Supported by Australian Society of Authors & WestWords
This provocative session explores how AI is reshaping authorship, copyright, and creative expression. From algorithm-generated novels to digital curation of cultural heritage, our panellists examine both perils and possibilities. How do we protect the rights of creatives in this new frontier? What happens when machines become storytellers? Discover how women leaders in technology, policy, and publishing are confronting these questions while imagining a future where human creativity and digital innovation might coexist and even collaborate.
Tracey Spicer AM is a multiple Walkley Award winning journalist, author and broadcaster who spent more than 30 years anchoring national programs for ABC TV and radio, and Network Ten. The inaugural national convenor of Women in Media, Tracey is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and emcees in the Asia-Pacific on the topics of artificial intelligence, social justice and equity. Her book about AI, Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, was longlisted for a prestigious Walkley Award. It won the Social Responsibility category, and was a finalist in the Technology category, in the Australian Business Book Awards. In 2019, Tracey was named the NSW Premier's Woman of the Year, accepted the global Sydney Peace Prize with Tarana Burke for the #MeToo movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia.
Paula Bray has over twenty years' experience working in cultural heritage institutions, including the, State Library of NSW, Powerhouse Museum, Art Gallery of NSW, and the Australian National Maritime Museum. She is currently the Chief Digital Officer at State Library Victoria where she is leading the Library’s digital future through compelling digital experiences that place the visitor at the heart. Paula set up Australia’s first dedicated innovation lab in a cultural heritage organisation, the DX Lab at the State Library of NSW. She developed an award-winning team that experimented with technology to build new ways to get access to the collection and its data, both online and onsite. She co-published Open A GLAM Lab with 16 peers from the International GLAM, (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums) Labs community, highlighting the benefits of working in an experimental practice.
Lucy Hayward is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Society of Authors. She is a passionate advocate for writers and illustrators with over 6 years' professional experience in the book industry. Prior to the ASA, Lucy cut her teeth in communications at a marketing technology company before her move to bookselling, taking up the role of Marketing Manager for Sydney’s Better Read Than Dead bookshop. She has a Masters in Creative Writing from UTS and has been a volunteer reader for Overland. Lucy currently sits on the board of Authors Legal, the Australian Copyright Council, and the International Authors Forum.
Alexandria (Ally) Burnham is an AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) award-winning screenwriter, novelist and writer of comics. She is best known for her feature film Unsound (Apple, 2020), which was nominated for best original feature at the 2020 AWGIE awards. A romantic-drama, the film won best Australian feature at the 2020 Melbourne Queer Film Festival and best fiction feature film at the 2020 ATOM Awards. Ally is the lead writer for Metropius (2021), a multi-media story world told across animation, comic books and board games produced by 18 Degrees. Her screenplay won Most Outstanding Animation at the 2022 AWGIE Awards. The first and second issues of her comic book, Forgotten Rose, are out now. Her debut novel, Swallow, is slated for release November 2025.
