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The Age
15 hours ago
- Business
- The Age
AI could cure cancer, and kill your job
So it was interesting to hear Vicki Brady, the boss of Australia's $54 billion telco giant Telstra, announce how it was going to wield the AI magic wand as part of its five-year plan to transform the business and earnings profile. A recent trip to the US, which included entry to the exclusive Microsoft CEO Summit, proved to be an eye-opener on AI's current state-of-play. 'The pace and scale of change is just phenomenal … this is real now,' Brady says. 'Now the conversation is around agents. We see lots of potential across those areas … customer engagement, how we operate and manage our network, how we develop software and manage our IT environment, how it supports back of office for us where you tend to have manual processes.' What is Agentic AI? By 'agents' she means the hot new buzzword: Agentic AI. This refers to discrete AI tools that can handle a range of functions with minimal oversight. Loading Think of cybersecurity agents that automatically detect and respond to threats, or health assistants that can help with diagnostic, treatment and care management recommendations. Or, in Telstra's case, create massive efficiencies in customer engagement while improving the quality of its service - hopefully. In case you don't understand the potential threat, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang recently referred to them as 'digital employees'. And keep in mind that Telstra has made a virtue of its massive blood-letting over the past two decades with job cuts at a pace only surpassed by your columnist's own industry: media. Telstra's most recent T22 transformation strategy included 8000 fresh bodies out the door. So it was interesting to see how ambivalent Telstra was on AI-related job costs when asked by analysts, who are used to hard numbers from the telco. 'No one can predict exactly what our workforces will look like in 2030, but in our case, we believe our workforce will likely be smaller in 2030 than it is today,' was Brady's tepid reply. Telstra currently employs 32,000 staff doing everything from ditch digging to customer support and sales. It isn't that Brady won't be using every opportunity to replace staff with AI bots where possible, it is just too early to say how much it will need to leverage staff with AI rather than rely on AI alone. It makes Telstra an interesting proxy for the AI revolution compared to the tech groups and services giants which are starting to take brutal measures as AI turns on its makers. Recent job losses at Microsoft included teams of coders whose jobs can now be done by AI. Technical writers at Aussie tech giants like Canva are also having to find new careers. Shopify's boss may have merely been publicly stating what has become industry standard practice when he said recently that the group will only approve new hires if it can be shown the job cannot be done by AI. It has led to extreme measures, like the highly paid staff from Aussie tech giants Canva and Atlassian taking union membership - just like Telstra's ditch diggers. But the overriding message across industries is that it is about growing the business with fewer new hires as the business expands. 'I like to think we can double in size with the workforce we have today,' Janet Truncale, global chief executive of EY, said at the recent Milken Institute annual conference on the impact of AI. So how does this all work for Telstra with the disadvantage of incumbency and the need for massive investments to keep up with the insatiable demand for data from new applications like AI, augmented reality and live-streaming? Plus the fierce competition which limits the telco's ability to charge higher prices. Loading Telstra plans on AI having a critical role in its aim to both grow revenue but also keep a lid on costs. 'This is not straightforward, driving positive operating leverage in a business like ours, which is a mature business,' Brady says. 'We've got to drive the top line, and we've got to drive real efficiency in our business. And that's absolutely at the heart of the strategy.' Even for the ditch diggers and maintenance staff, AI is already helping its infrastructure business cut the costly 'truck rolls' for emergency maintenance problems and help 'crush' the manual complexity of designing its high-speed networks. To get an idea of the potential savings, managing and operating its various networks costs $1.5 billion annually. Software engineering and IT is another $1 billion annual cost. And then there is the 'big opportunity' - the $2 billion consumed every year on customer engagement in all its forms. The job losses will be from the workers that companies like Telstra won't need to hire, and - if it works - the costs will be handed on to customers if they are willing to pay for services tailored to their needs. That big opportunity is more than just about containing costs. It starts with the digitisation of telecommunications networks which now allow companies like Telstra to leverage it as a product with its own value rather than a pipe, no different to your gas and water. Customer offerings no longer need to be defined by maximum download speeds and buckets of data. With digitisation, services can be managed more discretely by software. And customer's access to the network can become more bespoke and - hopefully - lucrative. A food truck at a concert needs uninterrupted network access to ensure payments get through and are not swamped by selfies getting uploaded by its customers. How much would they pay for that? Customer engagement needs to get much smarter to create differentiated offerings - like the right service for someone to stream movies, make business video calls, or scale bandwidth for peak sales periods at your business. The job losses will be from the workers that companies like Telstra won't need to hire, and - if it works - the costs will be handed on to customers if they are willing to pay for services tailored to their needs.
Sydney Morning Herald
15 hours ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
AI could cure cancer, and kill your job
So it was interesting to hear Vicki Brady, the boss of Australia's $54 billion telco giant Telstra, announce how it was going to wield the AI magic wand as part of its five-year plan to transform the business and earnings profile. A recent trip to the US, which included entry to the exclusive Microsoft CEO Summit, proved to be an eye-opener on AI's current state-of-play. 'The pace and scale of change is just phenomenal … this is real now,' Brady says. 'Now the conversation is around agents. We see lots of potential across those areas … customer engagement, how we operate and manage our network, how we develop software and manage our IT environment, how it supports back of office for us where you tend to have manual processes.' What is Agentic AI? By 'agents' she means the hot new buzzword: Agentic AI. This refers to discrete AI tools that can handle a range of functions with minimal oversight. Loading Think of cybersecurity agents that automatically detect and respond to threats, or health assistants that can help with diagnostic, treatment and care management recommendations. Or, in Telstra's case, create massive efficiencies in customer engagement while improving the quality of its service - hopefully. In case you don't understand the potential threat, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang recently referred to them as 'digital employees'. And keep in mind that Telstra has made a virtue of its massive blood-letting over the past two decades with job cuts at a pace only surpassed by your columnist's own industry: media. Telstra's most recent T22 transformation strategy included 8000 fresh bodies out the door. So it was interesting to see how ambivalent Telstra was on AI-related job costs when asked by analysts, who are used to hard numbers from the telco. 'No one can predict exactly what our workforces will look like in 2030, but in our case, we believe our workforce will likely be smaller in 2030 than it is today,' was Brady's tepid reply. Telstra currently employs 32,000 staff doing everything from ditch digging to customer support and sales. It isn't that Brady won't be using every opportunity to replace staff with AI bots where possible, it is just too early to say how much it will need to leverage staff with AI rather than rely on AI alone. It makes Telstra an interesting proxy for the AI revolution compared to the tech groups and services giants which are starting to take brutal measures as AI turns on its makers. Recent job losses at Microsoft included teams of coders whose jobs can now be done by AI. Technical writers at Aussie tech giants like Canva are also having to find new careers. Shopify's boss may have merely been publicly stating what has become industry standard practice when he said recently that the group will only approve new hires if it can be shown the job cannot be done by AI. It has led to extreme measures, like the highly paid staff from Aussie tech giants Canva and Atlassian taking union membership - just like Telstra's ditch diggers. But the overriding message across industries is that it is about growing the business with fewer new hires as the business expands. 'I like to think we can double in size with the workforce we have today,' Janet Truncale, global chief executive of EY, said at the recent Milken Institute annual conference on the impact of AI. So how does this all work for Telstra with the disadvantage of incumbency and the need for massive investments to keep up with the insatiable demand for data from new applications like AI, augmented reality and live-streaming? Plus the fierce competition which limits the telco's ability to charge higher prices. Loading Telstra plans on AI having a critical role in its aim to both grow revenue but also keep a lid on costs. 'This is not straightforward, driving positive operating leverage in a business like ours, which is a mature business,' Brady says. 'We've got to drive the top line, and we've got to drive real efficiency in our business. And that's absolutely at the heart of the strategy.' Even for the ditch diggers and maintenance staff, AI is already helping its infrastructure business cut the costly 'truck rolls' for emergency maintenance problems and help 'crush' the manual complexity of designing its high-speed networks. To get an idea of the potential savings, managing and operating its various networks costs $1.5 billion annually. Software engineering and IT is another $1 billion annual cost. And then there is the 'big opportunity' - the $2 billion consumed every year on customer engagement in all its forms. The job losses will be from the workers that companies like Telstra won't need to hire, and - if it works - the costs will be handed on to customers if they are willing to pay for services tailored to their needs. That big opportunity is more than just about containing costs. It starts with the digitisation of telecommunications networks which now allow companies like Telstra to leverage it as a product with its own value rather than a pipe, no different to your gas and water. Customer offerings no longer need to be defined by maximum download speeds and buckets of data. With digitisation, services can be managed more discretely by software. And customer's access to the network can become more bespoke and - hopefully - lucrative. A food truck at a concert needs uninterrupted network access to ensure payments get through and are not swamped by selfies getting uploaded by its customers. How much would they pay for that? Customer engagement needs to get much smarter to create differentiated offerings - like the right service for someone to stream movies, make business video calls, or scale bandwidth for peak sales periods at your business. The job losses will be from the workers that companies like Telstra won't need to hire, and - if it works - the costs will be handed on to customers if they are willing to pay for services tailored to their needs.
Time Out Dubai
19 hours ago
- Time Out Dubai
New flydubai flights from Dubai for 2025: New routes to Europe, North Africa and GCC
In the mood for a holiday? Us too. With summer on the horizon and loads of UAE public holidays still to come in 2025, we're spoiled for choice when it comes to our next big vacay. Keep these new flydubai flights on your radar if you're looking for the freshest destinations to travel to directly from Dubai. With five new spots added to their already massive network and the return of a popular European destination, there are plenty of new options to choose from. We can't wait to see where else flydubai will take us next. Here are the new flydubai flights for 2025. Keep checking back for updates. Al Alamein Al Alamein (Credit: Adobe) A brand new destination for flydubai, Al Alamein is a stunning place to visit on the Egyptian coastline. Al Alamein is part of the airline's summer schedule of 11 destinations, and with summer temperatures averaging around 32 degrees Celsius it's easy to see why. Taking off daily from DXB at 8.45am (UAE time), you will land in Egypt at noon (local time). Returning to Dubai, you will leave Al Alamein at 1pm, and touch down in the UAE again at 6pm (UAE time). Flights will run throughout the summer, beginning on Saturday June 7 and running until Sunday September 7. Antalya Antalya has been added to flydubai's summer network (Credit: flydubai) Another new destination for the airline's summer programme, Antalya is a beautiful coastal destination in the Mediterranean. With gorgeous turquoise blue waters, this destination is one of the best places to visit in Turkey. You'll find ancient ruins such as Hadrian's Gate and the Roman Harbour amongst the impeccable vibes. Flights will be daily and start from Thursday June 5 until Tuesday September 30. Bushehr (Credit: flydubai) The port city of Bushehr is the energy capital of Iran and home to several historically important sites. Flights to this destination began on Thursday March 13 from Terminal 2 at DXB and is served twice per week. Chișinău Chișinău (Credit: Canva) There will be two weekly flights to the Moldovan capital of Chișinău from Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport starting on Wednesday September 17. Famous for its historic white limestone buildings, unique architecture and sprawling natural parks, Chișinău is a great destination for those who want to travel off the beaten path. Emirates will codeshare on the route, offering passengers more options for connections. Iași (Credit: Canva) flydubai will take off to the Romanian university city of Iași from September. From Friday September 19, flydubai will fly twice per week to Iași. Romania's second-largest city is also one of its most historic and features stunning sites and charming neighbourhoods. Emirates will codeshare on the route, offering passengers more options for connections. Peshawar (Credit: flydubai) Starting from Thursday May 15, the Dubai-based carrier will operate a daily service to Peshawar in Pakistan. Flights to Bacha Khan International Airport will take off from Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport. The new route from DXB allows travellers from the UAE and the rest of the GCC more options when flying to Pakistan. Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa (Credit: flydubai) flydubai has reintroduced three weekly flights to Pisa, meaning you have a direct route to some of the best pizza and pasta in the world (apart from the dishes found in Dubai, of course). Taking off from Terminal 3, the flights will run between DXB and Pisa International Airport (PSA). Located in Italy's Tuscany region, the city is best known for its iconic Leaning Tower, completed all the way back in 1372 (it's been leaning for a long time). Currently operating from DXB on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the outbound flight leaves Dubai at 7.25am local time, landing in Pisa at 12.10pm local time. The return journey from Pisa departs at 1.10pm local time and lands back into Dubai at 9.30pm local time. Qeshm (Credit: flydubai) Separated from the Iranian mainland, this island destination is surrounded by crystal-clear blue waters, an abundance of wildlife and stunning geological formations. Flights to this popular destination began on Friday March 14, with flydubai aircraft taking off three times per week to get to Qeshm. Tabriz (Credit: flydubai) Once a major Silk Road market, Tabriz has maintained a reputation for handicrafts, local sweets and traditional food. You'll find a blend of history, culture and hospitality in one of Iran's largest cities. Flights first took off from DXB on Thursday March 13 and it's served twice weekly. Riga Riga (Credit: Canva) Flights will take off to the Latvian capital of Riga from December 2025. flydubai will travel three times per week to Riga from Friday December 12. Riga offer visitors the chance to discover magnificent architecture and explore a UNESCO World Heritage old town. Emirates will codeshare on the route, offering passengers more options for connections. Vilnius (Credit: Canva) From Thursday December 11, flydubai will start operating three weekly flights to Vilnius. Vilnius offer visitors the chance to discover its magnificent architecture and explore UNESCO World Heritage old town. Emirates will codeshare on the route, offering passengers more options for connections. Looking for things to do in Dubai? All the sports events in Dubai in 2025 to sign up for Make 2025 the year of your PBs 50 brilliant outdoor activities to try at least once in Dubai Let's take this outside The incredible Dubai hotels offering more than just a room Did someone say freebies?
Time Out Dubai
19 hours ago
- Time Out Dubai
Islamic New Year 2025: When is it and will Dubai get a day off work?
Daydreaming about your upcoming holiday plans? Us too. The Islamic New Year is coming sooner than you might think, with the official UAE public holiday set to arrive in June 2025. When exactly is Islamic New Year 2025? Current astronomical predictions indicate that the Islamic New Year dates should fall on Thursday June 26 in the UAE, which would split the Dubai working week in half. Announced as part of the country's official UAE public holiday dates for 2025, the occasion will give private and public sector workers one day off work. The Islamic New Year is one of a few public holidays tied to the Hijri calendar, which relies on the lunar cycle, and the exact date won't be known until much closer to the time. The occasion falls on the Hijri date of Muharram 1 and will kick off the year 1447 in the Islamic calendar. The exact date of the holiday depends on whether Dhu Al Hijjah, the 12th and final month in the Islamic calendar, is a 29-day or 30-day month. What is Islamic New Year? The Islamic New Year marks the beginning of every year in the Hijri calendar and falls on the first day of Muharram. Also referred to as Hijra or Al Hijri, the occasion is celebrated like any other public holiday in Dubai with big fireworks displays, dining deals and more. What other UAE public holidays are coming up in 2025? UAE public holidays 2025 revealed: save the date for these days off (Credit: Canva) The next one on the way is Eid Al Adha which will also fall in June this year. This holiday will give UAE residents a bumper four day weekend. It has now officially been confirmed by UAE's moon sighting committee that Arafat Day will begin on Thursday June 4, followed by Eid Al Adha on Friday June 6, Saturday June 7 and Sunday June 8. You might also like: Eid Al Adha break will fall over the weekend this year: Here's why this public holiday won't shift After Eid Al Adha comes the Islamic New Year in June. If you get creative with your annual leave, then you could get a whopping 17 days off that month. The Prophet Muhammad's birthday (PBUH) follows the June holidays and is currently predicted to fall on Thursday September 4 this year. And the final UAE public holiday of the year will be the National Day weekend, also known as Eid Al Etihad, which will fall on Tuesday December 2 and Wednesday December 3. The National Day celebrations are not tied to the Islamic Hijri calendar. The Gregorian new year is also a public holiday in the UAE and will be the first one of 2026. You might also like: UAE public holidays: Every long weekend to look forward to in 2025 The dates to know 22 pictures that show how much Dubai has changed from the 1950s to today Take a look at these unrecognisable photos of the city 112 best things to do in Dubai in 2025 Everything to tick off your Dubai bucket list
The Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Adrift in Conscience: ‘Small Boat' Navigates Guilt and Apathy, But Finds No Just Shore
Menu हिंदी తెలుగు اردو Home Politics Economy World Security Law Science Society Culture Editor's Pick Opinion Support independent journalism. Donate Now Top Stories Adrift in Conscience: 'Small Boat' Navigates Guilt and Apathy, But Finds No Just Shore Suvanshkriti Singh 14 minutes ago Vincent Delecroix's Booker-shortlisted novel probes bureaucratic cruelty and moral fatigue. Yet, its vision remains troublingly narrow, haunted more by moral posturing than ethical clarity. Illustration via Canva. Real journalism holds power accountable Since 2015, The Wire has done just that. But we can continue only with your support. Contribute now For a book that was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, French philosopher Vincent Delecroix's Small Boat seems to have flown almost completely under the literary radar. Translated by Helen Stevenson, the novel is a fictional account of the drowning of 27 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel from France into England. It is inspired from a real event, and reconstructed from the forensic data produced as part of its public investigation. Despite its politically relevant subject – or, perhaps because of it – hardly a handful of major English language media outlets, including those in India, have spared it any considerable thought. Those that have, have commended Small Boat for its moral stance; few have interrogated its ethically ambiguous politics on the racialised violence migrants experience. Vincent Delecroix's Small Boat Small Axes (2025) The novel is narrated from the point of view of the unnamed French coast guard officer who received distress calls from those attempting the ultimately failed crossing. She is being held accountable for their deaths due to her refusal to send help despite receiving 14 calls in the span of two hours. She insists her inaction was based on the simple, concrete fact of territorial jurisdiction: the dinghy with the migrants had crossed over into British waters, and all she could do was to inform her English counterparts of the situation, which she did. The first part of the novel sees the narrator being interviewed by a policewoman, strikingly like herself in appearance, demeanour, and tone of voice – later revealed to be the former's own conscience. This externalisation of internality is a deft narrative device; it allows Delecroix to paint the portrait of a weary, haunted woman through his political and philosophical arguments. Bubbles in her coffee appear to the narrator as sinking boats, and yet out loud she asks if the true cause for the dead migrants dying was not 'their inability to stay sitting quietly in a room.' And, surely, she cannot be held responsible for their choice to migrate. Or, perhaps, the cause was the under-funding of rescue services, necessitating difficult decisions about resource allocation. All the narrator did was her job in the way she was trained to do, she insists – without the professional handicap of emotions or opinions. A true and mere functionary, but one unable to rid herself of visions of African construction workers sinking in a sea that has encroached inland. Delecroix is clinical and unsparing in his condemnation of the banality of evil, the bureaucratic production of inhumanity, and its psychological toll. But, the primary aim of Small Boat is to take to task the ubiquity of apathy, and the complicity of Every(wo)man in the making of what we end up calling a tragedy. The novel uses the figure of the narrator as the insider who calls out society on its indifference, both through the novel's indictment of her own impassivity and her narratorial defence of it. Delecroix resolutely portrays the narrator as a burdened, enervated woman whose inaction, in a different context, could perhaps be forgiven. She is not so much vile as pathetic; no more a monster than anyone – which is everyone – who deems themselves a neutral, unobligated party to crises happening to other people. However, the novel's moral posture is its greatest limitation, for it gets in the way of its ability to take an ethical stance. Significant portions of the novel read like liberal fantasy, where the admission of guilt relieves one of any reparatory obligations: absolution through self-flagellation. The plot's resolution involves the narrator committing suicide. Unable to bear her guilt or to rationalise it away, she walks into the English Channel. Violence begets violence, but justice is nowhere in sight, nor is any notion of what it might look like. The moment of resolution is presaged by one of Delecroix's sharpest insights. The narrator concludes it is not her actions but her words that have condemned her: it is in the expectation that she would reassure the migrants they will be saved – and not in their actual survival or death – that society had unsuccessfully sought its redemption. But, coming as it does after repeated attempts on the part of the narrator to deflect responsibility, reaching for every explanation other than her own racial antipathy, the critique loses some of its bite. Then, there is the novel's second part: a detailed, but trite description of the hours-long drowning. Delecroix writes – or Stevenson translates – his migrants as featureless, racialised bodies. They are human only insofar as the bruising experience of closely witnessing their suffering. This is trauma porn barely disguised as liberal humanism. The novel is prey to the same tendency of which its narrator is accused – an inability to conceptualise migrants as individuals outside of their victimhood. These perversities reveal further frailties. Despite its philosophical nature, the novel often misses opportunities for original, innovative critique. Consider the narrator's claim that her 'judgment has…no fissures, but it does have boundaries, which correspond exactly to the boundaries of territorial waters.' Minimally, it offers an occasion for examining individual responsibility against structural forces. At best, it is an opportunity to reckon with the validity of the structure itself. But, having glimpsed the possibility, Delecroix forgoes it, focusing instead on rhetorical empathy. Similarly, for all its erudite musings about racial violence, the novel never really asks why it is so that the experience of migrants arouses concern only when their victimisation finds its completion in death. This, despite such a line of inquiry being amply indicated in the narrator's assertion that 'these people were sunk long before they sank.' Its flaws are not insignificant, and for many, Small Boat won't be a book that moves – it wasn't for me. It may even be one that incites pessimistic helplessness, if not cynicism. This may have something to do with its intended audience being primarily White. But, literature has the great advantage of being universal; it can always be read in the context of one's own circumstances. If the fates of those crossing the Channel seem too distant as a subcontinental reader, one can always recall the Rohingya refugees India abandoned in the Bay of Bengal. Despite its imperfections, this is still a well-written novel that warrants reflexive conversation through its own questioning, quietly suggesting that we hold both ourselves, and the political structures we legitimise, accountable for our complicity in the suffering of our others. Suvanshkriti is a journalist and researcher. She has a master's in European Studies from the University of Göttingen, Germany, where she specialised in the literature and politics of migration and citizenship. She writes about books, gender, sexuality, democracy, and global justice. Make a contribution to Independent Journalism Related News An Open Letter: 'I Have Small Eyes, Mr Prime Minister' Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp' – Translated By Deepa Bhasthi – Is 2025 International Booker Prize Winner Humour, Scepticism and the Realities of the Familial in Banu Mushtaq's 'Heart Lamp' Most Indians Can't Even Afford Entry-Level Cars. 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