Did AI write this event copy? Can you tell, and does it matter? And as machines grow ever more capable, what – if anything – remains uniquely human? Drawing on expansive imaginations and deep research, our panel considers how AI is reshaping our identities, work, ethics and creativity.
In The Thinning, Inga Simpson imagines a future where mass extinctions and dwindling diversity threaten what's left of our environment, introducing us to a new breed of evolved humans, the Incompletes. In Cadance Bell’s Letters to Robot Son, we are thrust even further through time to a desolate world devoid of humanity, where a robot with no memory embarks on a quest to understand its existence. Meanwhile, back in 2025, Toby Walsh’s global advocacy for limits to ensure AI enhances – rather than threatens -- our lives, has led to him being banned indefinitely from Russia.
Don’t miss these big, bold, deeply human brains, in conversation with ABC Sydney’s Rae Johnston.
Toby Walsh is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW and CSIRO Data61. He is Chief Scientist of UNSW.AI, UNSW’s new AI Institute. He has written five books on AI for a general audience, most recently The Shortest History of AI and Faking It! Artificial Intelligence in A Human World.
Inga Simpson is a writer whose work focusses on our relationship with the natural world. Her latest novel, The Thinning, was longlisted for the Stella Prize and the 2024 Indie book award for fiction, and was voted one of The Guardian’s 25 Best Australian Books of 2024. Inga’s previous books, Willowman, Mr Wigg, Nest, Where the Trees Were and The Last Woman in the World and Understory: a life with trees have all been long- and short-listed for numerous awards.
Cadance Bell is an author, filmmaker and bogan philosopher. Her critically acclaimed memoir The All of It: A Bogan Rhapsody was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year, and her debut fiction Letters to Our Robot Son could be ripped from today’s headlines as readily as tomorrow’s, with its big-hearted exploration of artificial intelligence, robotics, found families and above all hope.
Rae Johnston is a Wiradyuri and Greek woman who was born and raised on Darug and Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains. A multi-award-winning STEM journalist, Rae is the radio host of ABC Radio National’s Download This Show, ABC Radio Sydney’s Sunday Mornings (broadcasting state-wide) and iHeartRadio’s Weird Tech podcast. She also travels the country as a TV host on NITV’s Going Places with Ernie Dingo, ABC’s Back Roads and SBS’ The Secret DNA Of Us.
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This event is part of the Main Program and included as part of Platinum, Gold, Silver and Saturday Bronze Passes.
Subject to availability, a limited number of single tickets may become available 9 September.
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This venue is wheelchair accessible. Please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.