AI-generated scams, podcasts and videos are getting harder to spot – and there are now more bots online than people. So where do communities turn for help?

In this Technologist Talk recorded at State Library Victoria, Ramsay Reid Fellow Ben Kolaitis shares early findings from his research into public libraries and AI. He explains how chatbots work, why the old scam-spotting tips no longer cut it, and why libraries may be the last in-person human layer of information support.

Ben is joined by Carmen Eastman, Manager, Library Sector Engagement, and audience members for a Q&A on staff training, conscientious objectors, digital inclusion and AI in library collections.

Hosted by Ana Tiquia, Head of Innovation and Research, State Library Victoria.

Read the transcript and notes at lab.slv.vic.gov.au

AI-generated scams, podcasts and videos are getting harder to spot &ndash; and there are now more bots online than people. So where do communities turn for help?
In this Technologist Talk recorded at State Library Victoria, Ramsay Reid Fellow Ben Kolaitis shares early findings from his research into public libraries and AI. He explains how chatbots work, why the old scam-spotting tips no longer cut it, and why libraries may be the last in-person human layer of information support.
Ben is joined by Carmen Eastman, Manager, Library Sector Engagement, and audience members for a Q&amp;A on staff training, conscientious objectors, digital inclusion and AI in library collections.
Hosted by Ana Tiquia, Head of Innovation and Research, State Library Victoria.
Read the transcript and notes at lab.slv.vic.gov.au

Libraries must prepare for the AI information avalanche – Benjamin Kolaitis

For much of her career, Angela Stengel has worked where technology meets creativity. During her 17 years at the ABC, including as Head of Digital Content and Innovation, she helped teams experiment with new platforms, formats and ways of connecting with audiences. Today, she advises organisations across media, arts, culture and government on AI, strategy and innovation.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Stengel reflects on the promises and pitfalls of emerging technology, from the early optimism of the web to the current wave of AI development. She discusses why innovation teams matter, how organisations can navigate uncertainty, and why storytelling remains one of the most important human skills regardless of how technology changes. The episode offers a practical and optimistic perspective on how cultural organisations can engage with AI while remaining grounded in their mission, values, and communities.

For much of her career, Angela Stengel has worked where technology meets creativity. During her 17 years at the ABC, including as Head of Digital Content and Innovation, she helped teams experiment with new platforms, formats and ways of connecting with audiences. Today, she advises organisations across media, arts, culture and government on AI, strategy and innovation.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Stengel reflects on the promises and pitfalls of emerging technology, from the early optimism of the web to the current wave of AI development. She discusses why innovation teams matter, how organisations can navigate uncertainty, and why storytelling remains one of the most important human skills regardless of how technology changes. The episode offers a practical and optimistic perspective on how cultural organisations can engage with AI while remaining grounded in their mission, values, and communities.

The creative case for engaging with AI – Angela Stengel

We spoke with 'the internet's sexual historian' about the surprisingly horny origins of our digital tools, as well as her upcoming communal performance lecture at State Library Victoria.

Our digital tools are steeped in pleasure. From mobile phones flooding our senses with stimuli to the yonic nature of the computer mouse (with its clitoral scrolling wheel), to the rise of 'Big Porn', the industry of arousal has played a key part in the development of tools and interfaces through which we access the internet.

Who better than "the internet's sexual historian" Mindy Seu to explain how this all came about and explore where it's going?

The LA-based artist, technologist and professor joined us ahead of her August performance lecture of The Sexual History of the Internetat State Library Victoria for Now or Never. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Mindy discussed how internet history can be retold through human sexuality and the collective act of gathering histories and stories without resorting to extraction. Here, phones become performance tools, libraries are cathedrals of polyvocality, and the future of a liberated internet may depend on many small acts of change.

We spoke with 'the internet's sexual historian' about the surprisingly horny origins of our digital tools, as well as her upcoming communal performance lecture at State Library Victoria.
Our digital tools are steeped in pleasure. From mobile phones flooding our senses with stimuli to the yonic nature of the computer mouse (with its clitoral scrolling wheel), to the rise of 'Big Porn', the industry of arousal has played a key part in the development of tools and interfaces through which we access the internet.
Who better than "the internet's sexual historian" Mindy Seu to explain how this all came about and explore where it's going?
The LA-based artist, technologist and professor joined us ahead of her August performance lecture of The Sexual History of the Internet at State Library Victoria for Now or Never. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Mindy discussed how internet history can be retold through human sexuality and the collective act of gathering histories and stories without resorting to extraction. Here, phones become performance tools, libraries are cathedrals of polyvocality, and the future of a liberated internet may depend on many small acts of change.

Our sexual desires built the internet – Mindy Seu

What happens when we slow down, make things ourselves and ask who our tools are really built to serve?

Nyungar artist and technologist Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker joined SLV LAB in June 2026 to discuss why the future of technology should not be treated as inevitable, particularly amid pressure to embed AI into every system and workflow. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Kathryn reflects on leaving parts of the tech sector behind to focus on creative practice, speculative fiction, game making, First Peoples knowledges, repair culture and community-owned tools. The episode considers how cultural institutions might approach digital futures with greater care, agency and responsibility.

What happens when we slow down, make things ourselves and ask who our tools are really built to serve?
Nyungar artist and technologist Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker joined SLV LAB in June 2026 to discuss why the future of technology should not be treated as inevitable, particularly amid pressure to embed AI into every system and workflow. In conversation with Ana Tiquia, Kathryn reflects on leaving parts of the tech sector behind to focus on creative practice, speculative fiction, game making, First Peoples knowledges, repair culture and community-owned tools. The episode considers how cultural institutions might approach digital futures with greater care, agency and responsibility.

Creative technology beyond AI hype – Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker

In this Creative Technologist Talk, Elliott Bledsoe explored Australia’s new orphan works copyright scheme and what it might mean for cultural organisations and their publics. Alongside its timely discussion of the new legislation, Elliott's talk provides a helpful introduction to copyright and orphan works more broadly, opening up a wider conversation about access, reuse and public benefit in GLAM.

In this Creative Technologist Talk, <a href="https://lab.slv.vic.gov.au/team/elliott-bledsoe">Elliott Bledsoe</a> explored <a href="https://elliottbledsoe.wtf/a-new-orphan-works-scheme-is-coming-to-australia/">Australia&rsquo;s new orphan works copyright scheme</a> and what it might mean for cultural organisations and their publics. Alongside its timely discussion of the new legislation, Elliott's talk provides a helpful introduction to copyright and orphan works more broadly, opening up a wider conversation about access, reuse and public benefit in GLAM.

A new era for orphan works in Australia – Elliott Bledsoe [lecture recording]

How can mixed reality technologies create emergent social experiences? Scientist-artist Yoyo Munk (US) joined SLV's Paula Bray and CEO Paul Duldig to discuss blending virtual geometries with shared physical space in their recent KAGAMI and Medusa projects. Yoyo asks how technological imperfections can evoke meaning, and explains their journey from scientist to artist by finding the signal in the noise. Together, they wonder how mixed reality might interact with library collections, and the potential for digital visualisations to not only reveal the dynamic evolution of knowledge archives, but to shape future collecting practices.

This conversation was recorded in March 2025, a few months before Yoyo joined SLV LAB as its first Creative Technologist‑in‑Residence. His resulting project, In Memory | Of Being, was a mixed reality installation built from the Library’s digitised holdings: thousands of unidentified portraits, fragile glass‑plate negatives, vintage stereographs and oral history recordings.

How can mixed reality technologies create emergent social experiences? Scientist-artist Yoyo Munk (US) joined SLV's Paula Bray and CEO Paul Duldig to discuss blending virtual geometries with shared physical space in their recent KAGAMI and Medusa projects. Yoyo asks how technological imperfections can evoke meaning, and explains their journey from scientist to artist by finding the signal in the noise. Together, they wonder how mixed reality might interact with library collections, and the potential for digital visualisations to not only reveal the dynamic evolution of knowledge archives, but to shape future collecting practices.
This conversation was recorded in March 2025, a few months before Yoyo joined SLV LAB as its first Creative Technologist‑in‑Residence. His resulting project,&nbsp;<a href="https://lab.slv.vic.gov.au/articles/yoyo-munk-cultural-amnesia">In Memory | Of Being</a>, was a mixed reality installation built from the Library&rsquo;s digitised holdings: thousands of unidentified portraits, fragile glass‑plate negatives, vintage stereographs and oral history recordings.

The social life of mixed reality – Yoyo Munk

Voice assistants and auto-captions are everywhere now, but they can quickly fall apart when someone speaks with an accent the system wasn’t trained to recognise, or in a language it rarely “hears”. 

In this episode of the SLV LAB Conversations podcast, we were joined by technologist, linguist and researcher Kathy Reid who unpacked why that happens and what can be done about it. She introduces Mozilla Common Voice, a community-led project that collects speech in hundreds of languages and dialects. Kathy also talks through the Mozilla Data Collective and what it could mean for libraries and other cultural institutions facing constant scraping of online collections.

Voice assistants and auto-captions are everywhere now, but they can quickly fall apart when someone speaks with an accent the system wasn&rsquo;t trained to recognise, or in a language it rarely &ldquo;hears&rdquo;.&nbsp;
In this episode of the SLV LAB Conversations podcast, we were joined by technologist, linguist and researcher Kathy Reid who unpacked why that happens and what can be done about it. She introduces Mozilla Common Voice, a community-led project that collects speech in hundreds of languages and dialects. Kathy also talks through the Mozilla Data Collective and what it could mean for libraries and other cultural institutions facing constant scraping of online collections.

Building better AI speech tech with global voices – Kathy Reid

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems pull data from across the internet, library databases and our online presence, it generates a significant change in our relationship with knowledge. But what do we really know about this pervasive technology? Do our societies have robust guardrails in place to protect people and democracies, and have we reckoned with AI’s environmental impact?

Join award-winning Professor Kate Crawford, one of the world’s foremost scholars on the social and political implications of AI, as she explores how AI is reshaping our societies, ecosystems and power structures with host Natasha Mitchell in State Library Victoria's 2024 For Future Reference lecture.

Professor Kate Crawford is a leading international scholar of artificial intelligence. She is a Professor at USC Annenberg, a Senior Principal Researcher at MSR New York, and was the inaugural Visiting Chair for AI and Justice at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Her book Atlas of AI won multiple awards and was named one of the best books of 2021 by New Scientist and The Financial Times. Her project Anatomy of an AI System with Vladan Joler won the Design of the Year Award in 2019 and is on show at MoMA from 2022-2024.

Their latest work, Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power, won the Grand Prize of the European Commission for art and technology. She was named on the TIME100 list as one of the most influential people in AI.

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems pull data from across the internet, library databases and our online presence, it generates a significant change in our relationship with knowledge. But what do we really know about this pervasive technology? Do our societies have robust guardrails in place to protect people and democracies, and have we reckoned with AI&rsquo;s environmental impact?
Join&nbsp;award-winning&nbsp;Professor Kate Crawford, one of the world&rsquo;s foremost scholars on the social and political implications of AI, as she explores how AI is reshaping our societies, ecosystems and power structures with host&nbsp;Natasha Mitchell&nbsp;in State Library Victoria's 2024&nbsp;For Future Reference lecture.
Professor Kate Crawford is a leading international scholar of artificial intelligence. She is a Professor at USC Annenberg, a Senior Principal Researcher at MSR New York, and was the inaugural Visiting Chair for AI and Justice at the &Eacute;cole Normale Sup&eacute;rieure in Paris.
Her book&nbsp;Atlas of AI&nbsp;won multiple awards and was named one of the best books of 2021 by&nbsp;New Scientist&nbsp;and&nbsp;The Financial Times. Her project&nbsp;Anatomy of an AI System&nbsp;with Vladan Joler won the Design of the Year Award in 2019 and is on show at MoMA from 2022-2024.
Their latest work,&nbsp;Calculating Empires: A Genealogy of Technology and Power, won the Grand Prize of the European Commission for art and technology. She was named on the TIME100 list as one of the most influential people in AI.

Mapping Planetary AI – Kate Crawford [lecture recording]

On 18 March 2026, Kathy Reid delivered a lecture at State Library Victoria exploring Mozilla Common Voice, language bias in speech tech and Mozilla Data Collective’s approach to ethical data stewardship for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums.

Kathy Reid works at the intersection of open source, emerging technologies and technical communities. She has held several technical leadership positions, including roles in web and apps development, video conferencing and digital signage. She was previously Digital Platforms Manager at Deakin University,  Director of Developer Relations at Mycroft.AI, President of Linux Australia, and a voice open source specialist at Mozilla. In 2019, she was one of 16 people from across the world to be chosen to help shape a new branch of engineering at the Australian National University's 3A Institute, where she is now a PhD candidate researching voice data and ways to prevent and respond to bias.

On 18 March 2026, Kathy Reid delivered a lecture at State Library Victoria exploring Mozilla Common Voice, language bias in speech tech and Mozilla Data Collective&rsquo;s approach to ethical data stewardship for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums.
Kathy Reid works at the intersection of open source, emerging technologies and technical communities. She has held several technical leadership positions, including roles in web and apps development, video conferencing and digital signage. She was previously Digital Platforms Manager at Deakin University, &nbsp;Director of Developer Relations at&nbsp;Mycroft.AI, President of Linux Australia, and a voice open source specialist at Mozilla. In 2019, she was one of 16 people from across the world to be chosen to help shape a new branch of engineering at the Australian National University's 3A Institute, where she is now a PhD candidate researching voice data and ways to prevent and respond to bias.

An introduction to Mozilla Common Voice – Kathy Reid [lecture recording]

“Artificial Intelligence is here. It’s not going to go away. We can hate it, we can refuse it, we can have doubts. But it’s here – and maybe we can use it for our own purposes and our own workflows in our institutions.” Dr Ines Vodopivec is convinced that AI (Artificial Intelligence) isn’t a novelty bolted onto library systems; it’s already reshaping users’ expectations and our definitions of data, and the workflows that connect the two.

Ines began her career in a Franciscan monastery in Slovenia, cataloguing 16th Century manuscripts, and has since then moved between librarianship, restoration and digitisation. Today, she is a digital‑heritage leader and Secretary General of AI4LAM whose career spans deputy directorship at Slovenia’s National and University Library, roles with UNESCO’s Memory of the World and the Europeana Network Association board.

In early February 2026, on a whirlwind tour of GLAM institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, she stopped by State Library Victoria to deliver a presentation that explored practical case studies for AI implementation in libraries across Europe and the US, including the National Library of Norway, Standford University Libraries and Bibliothèque National de France.

Alongside the promise of AI, she weighs ethics, access and the realities of staff skills, arguing for AI literacy and cross‑sector collaboration so libraries can remain trusted, user‑centred infrastructures.

&ldquo;Artificial Intelligence is here. It&rsquo;s not going to go away. We can hate it, we can refuse it, we can have doubts. But it&rsquo;s here &ndash; and maybe we can use it for our own purposes and our own workflows in our institutions.&rdquo;&nbsp;Dr Ines Vodopivec is convinced that AI (Artificial Intelligence) isn&rsquo;t a novelty bolted onto library systems; it&rsquo;s already reshaping users&rsquo; expectations and our definitions of data, and the workflows that connect the two.
Ines began her career in a Franciscan monastery in Slovenia, cataloguing 16th Century manuscripts, and has since then moved between librarianship, restoration and digitisation. Today, she is a digital‑heritage leader and Secretary General of <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/ai4lam">AI4LAM</a> whose career spans deputy directorship at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_and_University_Library_of_Slovenia">Slovenia&rsquo;s National and University Library</a>, roles with <a href="https://en.unesco.org/programme/mow">UNESCO&rsquo;s Memory of the World</a> and the <a href="https://pro.europeana.eu/europeana-network-association">Europeana Network Association</a> board.
In early February 2026, on a whirlwind tour of GLAM institutions in the Asia-Pacific region, she stopped by State Library Victoria to deliver a presentation that explored practical case studies for AI implementation in libraries across Europe and the US, including the National Library of Norway, Standford University Libraries and Biblioth&egrave;que National de France.
Alongside the promise of AI, she weighs ethics, access and the realities of staff skills, arguing for AI literacy and cross‑sector collaboration so libraries can remain trusted, user‑centred infrastructures.

AI tools are rapidly changing how we use libraries. Digital heritage leader Ines Vodopivec explains how we can stay ahead of the game, using case studies from Europe and the US.

How AI can help libraries – Ines Vodopivec [lecture recording]

Explore emerging tech, digital experimentation and all things library-futures.

SLV LAB is State Library Victoria's prototyping and innovation lab. We experiment with technology to open access to collections, data and spaces. In our Conversations series, we discuss emerging technology, digital experimentation and library futures with artists, technologists and workers in the cultural sector.

Explore emerging tech, digital experimentation and all things library-futures.
SLV LAB is State Library Victoria's prototyping and innovation lab. We experiment with technology to open access to collections, data and spaces.&nbsp;In our Conversations series, we discuss emerging technology, digital experimentation and library futures with artists, technologists and workers in the cultural sector.

SLV LAB is State Library Victoria's prototyping and innovation lab. In our Conversations series, we discuss emerging technology, digital experimentation and library futures with artists, technologists and workers in the cultural sector.

SLV LAB Conversations

Explore emerging techonolgies, digital experimentation and library-futures.

SLV LAB is State Library Victoria's prototyping and innovation lab. We experiment with technology to open access to collections, data and spaces. In our Conversations series, we discuss emerging technology, digital experimentation and library futures with artists, technologists and workers in and around the cultural sector.

Produced by Dilan Gunawardana

Explore emerging techonolgies, digital experimentation and library-futures.
SLV LAB is State Library Victoria's prototyping and innovation lab. We experiment with technology to open access to collections, data and spaces.&nbsp;In our Conversations series, we discuss emerging technology, digital experimentation and library futures with artists, technologists and workers in and around the cultural sector.
Produced by Dilan Gunawardana

SLV LAB Conversations

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