Gaps

• The astonishing functionalities of large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT were, just a few months ago, the epitome of cutting-edge AI.
• They are now on course to be mere add-ons and plugins to our text editors and search engines.
• The four we think are waiting in the wings are next-level GPT, humanoid robots, AI lawyers, and AI-driven science.
• We chose these four because they were the ones that kept coming up in our investigations into progress in AI technologies.

1. AI legal help

• The company recently said it would let its AI system help two defendants fight speeding tickets in real-time.
• Connected via an earpiece, the AI can listen to proceedings and whisper legal arguments into the ear of the defendant, who then repeats them out loud to the judge.

2. AI scientific support

• Machine learning, where an AI system improves at what it does over time, is being employed to identify patterns in data.
• This enables the systems to propose novel scientific hypotheses – proposed explanations for phenomena in nature.
• While AI cannot currently formulate hypotheses independently, it can inspire scientists to approach problems from new perspectives.

3. AutoGPT

• Auto-GPT, an advanced AI tool released by Significant Gravitas, is already making waves in the tech industry.
• Auto-GPT incorporates AI agents, or systems, that make decisions based on predetermined rules and goals.
• Despite installation limitations, such an functionality problems when used with Windows, Auto-GPT shows great potential in various applications.

4. Humanoid Robots

• Humanoid robots – those that look and move like us – have significantly advanced since the first Darpa Robotics Challenge in 2015, a contest where teams built robots to perform a series of complex tasks set by the organisers.
• Figure AI, a company building humanoid robots for warehouse work, has already secured US$70 million (£55 million) in investment funding.
• Humanoid robots offer advantages over other robots in tasks requiring navigation, manoeuvrability, and adaptability because in part, they will be operating in environments that have been built around human needs.

Taking the long view

• The long term success of these four will depend on more than just computation power.
• Humanoid robots could fail to gain traction if their production and maintenance costs outweigh their benefits.

• Private dental care is increasingly unaffordable, and millions of Australians go without the treatment they need.
• The potentially avoidable costs to the health-care system and to people’s quality of life has led to increased pressure for a Medicare-style universal insurance scheme for dental care (Denticare) or the inclusion of dental care into Medicare.
• Affordable and available dental care is crucial to addressing inequality in Australia.

Why wasn’t dental included in Medicare in the first place?

• There is, however, little to no evidence on the extent to which the Whitlam government pushed for dental to be included or how much it was opposed by dentists.
• It seems it was not on the agenda when Medicare was restored by the Hawke government.
• Secondly, the provision of public dental health services – often linked to dental hospitals and dental schools – has long been seen (especially by Coalition governments) as the responsibility of states and territories.

A short history

• This section gives the Commonwealth the power to legislate and fund these services but it’s not obligated to do so.
• The Whitlam government was the first to provide national funding and direction to these state-based programs through the Australian School Dental Program.

The barriers to universal dental care

• These figures don’t factor in the savings made to health-care costs due to preventable dental cavities and gum disease (estimated by the Australian Dental Association at $818 million per year) and reduced productivity.
• The other approach is to reduce costs by limiting the number of people covered and/or the number and type of services covered.
• Means testing access to Medicare Benefits Schedule items for dental care is risky; it could easily lead to means testing of access to other MBS items.

There’s more we can do

• Researchers have described the Chronic Dental Disease Scheme (introduced by the Howard government) as as “the most expensive and controversial public dental policy in Australian history”.
• As a 2012 analysis showed, it blew out its budget and did not result in dental health improvements.
• It’s worth noting many of the preventive actions needed to address obesity (for example, encouraging breast feeding and limiting sugary beverages) will also improve dental health.
• Read more:
  How to fill the gaps in Australia's dental health system

• Officially launched in July 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) reached full rollout in 2020.
• A decade later, Australians with disability, their families, advocates and support providers are waiting for the NDIS independent review and Disability Royal Commission findings, both due around October.

The goal posts

• It would be administered at the federal level with joint funding from state and territory governments.
• It would also aim to foster inclusion and community awareness and provide information and referrals to services outside the NDIS (such as health and education).
• Read more:
  Part-time work is valuable to people with disability – but full time is more likely to attract government support

Debates and controversies

• But in 2022, the NDIS Act 2013 was changed to embed the principle of co-design into the legislation and new funding followed.
• Read more:
  A disabled NDIA chair is a great first move in the NDIS reset.
• Now expected to cost A$50 billion by 2025, the NDIS will overtake the cost of Medicare or defence.
• In our research, incorporating the lived experience of NDIS participants, some people have said their lives have been transformed through the NDIS.
• Read more:
  What we know about the NDIS cuts, and what they'll mean for people with disability and their families

Untapped potential

• Boosting the NDIA workforce, as announced by NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, should help and also reduce mistakes and delays.
• And there needs to be capacity development for NDIS participants.
• Read more:
  The government says NDIS supports should be 'evidence-based' – but can they be?

A new decade

• It is clear NDIS reform will stay front-of-mind for some time yet.
• It is crucial people with disability remain central and involved in genuinely co-designing the second decade of the NDIS and beyond.

• If students have poor academic results early in school, do they continue to fall further and further behind as they move through their education?
• Read more:
  No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers

The ‘Matthew effect’

• If achievement gaps do widen as children develop, this would be evidence for what researchers call the “Matthew effect”.
• This theory, first described by Canadian psychologist Keith Stanovich, proposes students who start with poor academic skills early in school make less progress over time compared with their higher-achieving peers.
• (Or, as Matthew put it, “For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.

Our research

• So results on one test can be directly compared to the next or the previous one.
• Our research
  examined patterns growth in literacy and numeracy in two states.
• We matched NAPLAN reading comprehension and numeracy results for each student from Year 3 through to Year 9.

Our findings

• While surprising, our research aligns with findings from a 2014 meta-analysis of Matthew effects research in reading.
• Our research is the first in Australia to build on these findings and examine reading and numeracy development in state-wide data using individual student scores across the NAPLAN years.
• Although, our findings also indicate the highest achieving students do not make as much growth in NAPLAN as their lower performing peers.

But what does this mean for high achievers?

• But our research suggests students who begin with poorer literacy and numeracy skills are supported by classroom teachers, and do make progress over time.
• Perhaps the progress of high-ability students is not a high priority for schools once these students have attained the basic skills expected of their age group.
• Further research in Australian schools is needed to identify the reasons for underachievement relative to potential for high-ability students.