Question Machines is a research cluster at the University of Technology that explores the social impact of knowledge technologies like chatbots, search engines and online encyclopedias and works with libraries and museums to reimagine their how they might be better designed and governed.
Our Projects
What do Australian library workers need to know about AI?
Using participatory methods grounded in a review of literature and capabilities frameworks from the library sector, we are developing a framework the sets out what all library workers need to know about AI in Australia.
See the slides from our workshop at the 2026 ALIA conference: “Developing an AI capability strategy for your library”
The research team includes Prof. Heather Ford, Alycia Bailey, Dr Keith Heggart, Melissa Hess and Dr Simon Knight
“Reimagining AI answer systems for critical AI literacy in Australia”
ARC Future Fellowship FT240100011
AI in the Library: The making of misbehaving machines
Working with librarians in the Greater Sydney area, the first edition of the AI in the Library project developed an innovative AI literacy programme to support librarians and library clients in Australia to understand the trustworthiness of AI answer services such as ChatGPT.
See the exhibits we developed at the misbehavingmachines.net website
Read our open access journal articles about the project “Hacking AI Chatbots for Critical AI Literacy in the Library“
Access the worksheets for your own AI literacy workshops here
The project team included: Prof. Heather Ford, Dr Andrew Burrell, Dr Suneel Jethani, Dr Monica Monin, Dr Bhuva Narayan with research assistance from Dr Tim Koski
The funding for this project was provided by UTS
Heather Ford
lead Researcher
Dr Heather Ford is a Professor in the School of Communications at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Her research focuses on the social implications of digital technology and the ways in which they might be better designed and regulated to prevent social exclusion and epistemic injustice.
Andrew Burrell
Researcher
Andrew Burrell is a practice-based researcher and educator exploring virtual and digitally mediated environments as a site for the construction, experience and exploration of memory as narrative. Their ongoing research investigates the relationship between imagined and remembered narrative and how the multi-layered biological and technological encoding of human subjectivity may be portrayed within, and inform the design of, virtual environments.
Suneel Jethani
Researcher
Dr Suneel Jethani is a Lecturer in Digital and Social Media in the School of Communication at UTS. Suneel investigates how digital technologies are integrating with everyday life as well as the risk discourse around generative AI for decisionmaking practices.
Monica Monin
Researcher
Monica Monin explores design and creative practice within an overabundant and heterogenous media ecology. Monica is a lecturer in the School of Design at UTS and has had recent speaking engagements on generative AI and machine learning.
Bhuva Narayan
Researcher
Bhuva Narayan is Associate Professor, Digital Social Media in the School of Communication, and Director of Graduate Research at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Bhuva is a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary researcher across Information Science, Digital Media Studies, and Social Sciences, with additional expertise in IT, HCI, and UX, and applies this expertise in the context of social justice and equity issues.
Timothy Koskie
Research assistant
Timothy Koskie is a researcher of online media and media pluralism at UTS, with a recent focus on generative AI. His current projects include Valuing News and Wikihistories Discovery projects and the Implications of Generative AI for knowledge integrity on Wikipedia.
This project was a collaboration with our institutional partners
Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA)
New South Wales Public Libraries Association (NSWPLA)
State Library of New South Wales
The project would not be possible without the participating libraries
Previous Projects
How QA machines represent notable Australians
In this project, we conducted experiments with smart speakers and virtual assistants to ask questions about notable Australians and compare answers.
Others:
Professor Andrew Iliadis is an affiliate of the QuestionMachines project. Andrew is the author of “Semantic Media: Mapping Meaning Making on the Internet”. He is an Assistant Professor at Temple University, on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Responsible Technology and the Executive Editorial Board of Philosophy & Technology.
Ella Cutler created the illustrations for this website. Ella is a designer, thinker and publisher creating work on unceded Gadigal Country. A recent graduate from UTS, Ella is interested in ways design tools can help to navigate small protest ecologies and their complex contexts.
This work was conducted in Gadigal country on land that was never ceded. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging and recognise them as the true custodians of knowledge in this place.
Research for this project has been supported by UTS (the University of Technology Sydney).