Flapper Said: Conversational AI in Culture, Design & Interpretation – Panel Discussion
Presented by Deakin University Library
DETAILS
Free, booking required
Phoenix Theatre, Building P
Deakin Library Burwood, Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC, Australia
How do machines speak, and how do we respond?
Presented as part of Flapper Said: Exploring the Future of Conversational AI, this multidisciplinary panel brings together experts from law, First Nations knowledge, museum practice, science and technology studies, and sports history to unpack the cultural, ethical and creative forces shaping conversational AI in Australia.
At the centre of the exhibition is Flapper, a conversational AI inspired by Collingwood Football Club legend Les ‘Flapper’ Hughes (1884–1962). Drawing on humour, storytelling and archival research, the project invites audiences to consider how emerging technologies intersect with identity, memory and community.
Facilitated by Dr Russell Kennedy, this panel discussion expands that inquiry, examining the possibilities and limits of conversational AI within cultural institutions, creative practice, and society. Speakers explore topics including copyright in the age of machine learning, First Nations perspectives on digital representation, the role of AI in museums, and the future of human-machine dialogue.
Panellists include Jeffrey Browne, Michael Roberts, Andrea Witcomb, Tui Raven, Jemimah Widdicombe and Dr Luke Heemsbergen.
Participants
Dr Russell Kennedy
Russell Kennedy is an academic and practitioner of communication design and filmmaking. He is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Head of Screen and Design at Deakin University, and Co-Director of Design Mind, Deakin University’s International Design and Innovation Platform. His research is positioned in the fields of communication design and design thinking, with a particular focus on design driven national identities and the representation of Indigenous culture in professional design practice.
Jeffrey Browne
Jeffrey Browne is a lawyer who commenced his own practice in 1983, specialising in sports and media law. He was the principal legal adviser to the AFL between 1985 and 2006, when he left legal practice to become Executive Director of the Nine Network Australia, and later Managing Director. He left Nine in 2013 and became Chairman of ASX-listed carsales.com, and later of MA Financial Group (ASX: MAF). In 2022 he was elected President of the Collingwood Football Club and helped guide the Club to its 16th premiership in 2023. He left Collingwood in 2025 to become Chairman of Myeloma Australia and has dedicated his time to the treatment and path to a cure for multiple myeloma. In 2012 he was appointed and remains Chairman of Australia’s largest automotive remanufacturer and motorsports group, Walkinshaw Automotive.
Michael Roberts
Michael Roberts is a journalist and author who has written or edited ten books, most on Australian football. He is the president of the Australian Football Heritage Group and is the Collingwood Football Club’s official historian and collection curator.
Andrea Witcomb
Andrea Witcomb is a Distinguished Deakin Professor in the fields of cultural heritage and museology. She is also the Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Arts and Education. She leads the continued development of cultural heritage and museological research at Deakin University, supports research excellence in the Faculty and supervises higher degree research students.
Tui Raven
Tui Raven is a proud Yamaji Nyungar based in Naarm, currently working as the Senior Manager, Indigenous Programs at Deakin Library. Her role at Deakin enables her to assist with matters related to Indigenous knowledges within the library and across the university. Tui is also involved in embedding Indigenous knowledges into course curricula, creating initiatives to increase cultural responsiveness for the Deakin community, and working with Traditional Owner groups.
Jemimah Widdicombe
Jemimah Widdicombe leads the development of temporary exhibitions as the Senior Curator at the National Communication Museum (NCM) in Melbourne/Naarm. Her work focuses on the intersection of culture and technology, and is underpinned by foundations in human interaction research and design and cultural production. Jemimah’s curatorial career spans more than a decade of interdisciplinary projects, including strategic exhibitions, collections and content roles at Museums Victoria and the University of Melbourne, coupled with extensive experience in digital research, education and cultural program coordination in Kanaky New Caledonia and France.
Dr Luke Heemsbergen
Luke Heemsbergen is a Lecturer in Communications and a member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. He lights fires and builds bridges between digital communication and political life through examining how new forms of digital visibility create perceived reality and form novel political practice. This includes grant-winning projects on the rights and regulation of 3D printing and partnerships with augmented reality creators to reconsider the politics of public spatial computing and surveillance. Luke has worked for Harvard’s Berkman Klein Centre for Internet & Society to create entrepreneurial relations between university stakeholders, the Government of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in managing public diplomacy and research capacities, and most recently as an academic researcher and teacher in Australia.