Finding equivalence between natural and artificial intelligences. This project aims to investigate the ways in which artificial intelligence is equivalent to human intelligence. Computers outperform humans in many domains, yet it is clear that computers often don’t perform tasks the way humans do. Developing innovative methods for evaluating claims of equivalence by drawing on simpler, well-understood model systems like the honeybee brain, the project expects to fill this existing knowledge gap. ....Finding equivalence between natural and artificial intelligences. This project aims to investigate the ways in which artificial intelligence is equivalent to human intelligence. Computers outperform humans in many domains, yet it is clear that computers often don’t perform tasks the way humans do. Developing innovative methods for evaluating claims of equivalence by drawing on simpler, well-understood model systems like the honeybee brain, the project expects to fill this existing knowledge gap. Expected outcomes include a framework that provides powerful, nuanced criteria for comparison of natural and artificial intelligences. Benefits are expected to include enhanced guidance for the development of AI systems both in everyday contexts and as exploratory tools in comparative and cognitive neuroscience.Read moreRead less
Trust and Distrust in Social Epistemic Networks. This project aims to discover critically-needed understandings of the social causes and consequences of ‘fake news’. It will do this by investigating and mapping the relationship between ‘epistemic vices’ and people’s acceptance of misinformation and disinformation (e.g. conspiracy theories). It will bring together approaches from experimental philosophy, natural language processing, social network analysis, and normative reflection to provide new ....Trust and Distrust in Social Epistemic Networks. This project aims to discover critically-needed understandings of the social causes and consequences of ‘fake news’. It will do this by investigating and mapping the relationship between ‘epistemic vices’ and people’s acceptance of misinformation and disinformation (e.g. conspiracy theories). It will bring together approaches from experimental philosophy, natural language processing, social network analysis, and normative reflection to provide new insights regarding distrust and intellectual vice, thus significantly advancing knowledge of the ‘dark side’ of social epistemology. Results will lead to urgently required guidance regarding the features of social networks that exacerbate or buffer against the manifestation of these vices.Read moreRead less
Trust in a social and digital world. This project aims to provide a systematic and empirically-informed account of the way networks facilitate or hinder knowledge. Distinguishing on-line information from disinformation can be difficult. This task can be greatly assisted by networks of trusted peers, but figuring out who to trust is itself a challenge. Identifying, designing, and facilitating networks of trust is therefore an urgent task. By using the tools of social epistemology, virtue epistemo ....Trust in a social and digital world. This project aims to provide a systematic and empirically-informed account of the way networks facilitate or hinder knowledge. Distinguishing on-line information from disinformation can be difficult. This task can be greatly assisted by networks of trusted peers, but figuring out who to trust is itself a challenge. Identifying, designing, and facilitating networks of trust is therefore an urgent task. By using the tools of social epistemology, virtue epistemology, and network science, this project will identify how individuals should distribute their trust when embedded in epistemically hostile environments.Read moreRead less
Ethics, responsibility and the carbon budget. This project aims to provide a rigorous ethical framework for dividing the world’s remaining ‘carbon budget’ (CB). In order to avoid climate change the world must drastically limit its emissions of greenhouse gases. The project will develop a new analysis of how our assumptions concerning risk and harm shape conception of the CB. It will also provide a new understanding of how future emission rights should be allocated given that countries have emitt ....Ethics, responsibility and the carbon budget. This project aims to provide a rigorous ethical framework for dividing the world’s remaining ‘carbon budget’ (CB). In order to avoid climate change the world must drastically limit its emissions of greenhouse gases. The project will develop a new analysis of how our assumptions concerning risk and harm shape conception of the CB. It will also provide a new understanding of how future emission rights should be allocated given that countries have emitted vastly different quantities of greenhouse gases in the past. The project will analyse how the CB will impact the climate transition plans of countries such as Australia. The project will thus bring significant new research in philosophy to bear on a practical issue.Read moreRead less
Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of com ....Facing new worlds: comparative histories of Australasia and North America. This project aims to develop comparative research into Indigenous and settler experiences in Australasia and North America in order to discover new connections or distinctions between the two regions for both public and academic audiences. The project will centre on a major exhibition with a focus on biography and life representation and will develop new methodologies for examining the shared or different histories of complex indigenous-settler relations across "New World" sites. The expected outcomes of this project are to promote a deeper appreciation of Australia’s place in a Pacific world with as yet unexplored links to the Americas, and also to model new ways for art history and socio-cultural history to come together to explicate a shared, complicated past.Read moreRead less
Formal approaches to legal reasoning. This project aims to use formal epistemology to improve understanding of existing legal practices and to propose recommendations for improving the consistency and accuracy of legal proceedings. Since judges and juries rarely know all the relevant facts, they must make the best decision possible in the face of uncertainty. Formal epistemology employs probabilistic reasoning to advance understanding of how to form beliefs and make decisions in response to unce ....Formal approaches to legal reasoning. This project aims to use formal epistemology to improve understanding of existing legal practices and to propose recommendations for improving the consistency and accuracy of legal proceedings. Since judges and juries rarely know all the relevant facts, they must make the best decision possible in the face of uncertainty. Formal epistemology employs probabilistic reasoning to advance understanding of how to form beliefs and make decisions in response to uncertain evidence. The project has potential to influence the relevant policy and will result in improved legal reasoning and risk reduction in legal decision making.Read moreRead less
How Meston's 'Wild Australia Show' shaped Australian Aboriginal history. How Meston's 'Wild Australia Show' shaped Australian Aboriginal history. This project aims to produce an authoritative and original interpretation of the Wild Australia Show (1892–93), staged by a diverse company of Aboriginal people for metropolitan audiences. The Show will be the focus of an interdisciplinary study of performance, photography, collections and race relations in colonial Australia, using archival and visual ....How Meston's 'Wild Australia Show' shaped Australian Aboriginal history. How Meston's 'Wild Australia Show' shaped Australian Aboriginal history. This project aims to produce an authoritative and original interpretation of the Wild Australia Show (1892–93), staged by a diverse company of Aboriginal people for metropolitan audiences. The Show will be the focus of an interdisciplinary study of performance, photography, collections and race relations in colonial Australia, using archival and visual records. The project will situate the Show in local, national and transnational narratives informed by contemporary Indigenous perspectives. This research should illuminate Aboriginal agency in the ensemble, reconnect Aboriginal kin to performers, and chart changing concepts of race at a critical juncture in Australian history.Read moreRead less
Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transfer ....Megalithic Connections: Imperilled Cultural Heritage in Laos and India. This interdisciplinary project aims to document and explore the cultural connections between the geographically disparate megalithic cultures of Laos and India and create an enduring digital record of these threatened cultural assets. Integrating archaeological science and pioneering data capture technologies, the project will create globally significant new knowledge; advance heritage management processes including transferrable exploratory technologies; and help underpin economic, social and cultural benefit in these regions. With an increasing awareness of the need to conserve global cultural assets, Australia will take the lead in developing breakthrough technological solutions and new cross-country research and practitioner capability.Read moreRead less
Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic wa ....Images of Power in the Roman Empire: Mass Media and the Cult of Emperors. Contemporary leaders understand the power of an image to influence public opinion, but are they following a path well-trodden by Roman emperors? This project aims to illuminate the role that mass media and images played in securing and sustaining imperial power during the Later Roman empire from the Flavians to the Theodosians (69-450 CE). The comparison of coins, statues and monuments will shed new light on the dynamic ways that popular media were used to mediate between emperors, their officials, provincial elites and the wider populace, and show how leaders used mass media in the Roman world. Social and cultural benefits include a better understanding of the ways that leaders today handle such media to influence public opinion.Read moreRead less
A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, an ....A History of Foreign Multinational Enterprises in Australia from Federation. We aim to deliver the first history of foreign multinational firms in twentieth-century Australia, connecting to, and enhancing, a rich overseas literature on global business. Foreign corporations have played a critical but poorly understood role here with public and policy opinions polarised between approval for new investment, job creation and innovation against concern for their impact on tax revenue, competition, and economic policy. Through a closer, long term understanding of multinationals – their magnitude, motives to settle here, corporate structures, and adaptation to local conditions – our findings will inform public debate and policy about the roles of foreign investment and foreign enterprises in the Australian economy today.Read moreRead less