The Wire with Alex

International researchers have found that feeding AI bad information on one topic can result in it providing bad advice on other unrelated topics, a phenomenon called "emergent misalignment". Producer Vihan spoke to Victoria University's Senior Lecturer of Software Engineering, Simon McCallum, about the study, as well as how AI learns information, and the ethical aspects of training AI.

This week on the Monday Wire...

For our weekly catch-up with the ACT Party, News Director Castor spoke to MP Simon Court about Labour’s proposed streaming levy and recent IT issues in the Health sector, including the ManageMyHealth data breach and IT outages last week. 

They also spoke to Professor of Law at the University of Auckland, Jane Kelsey, about the World Trade Organisation and its future as the United States becomes more isolationist. 

Thursday Wire Host Caeden spoke to Samira Ghoreishi, womens rights advocate and researcher on social movements and civil society in Iran, on the nuances of the current political situation following a week of mass demonstrations and government crackdowns. 

And Producer Alex spoke to Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Otago, Robert Patman, about Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs on major EU member states over their opposition to the potential of the US Taking control of Greenland, what that says about Trump, and what it means for the EU and NATO.

This weekend, Donald Trump announced his plans to levy tariffs against European countries who oppose his plans to press for Greenland. The move, which is an attempt to levy America’s economic position to dissuade what has been fervent european opposition to his desire for the territory, has been met with severe responses from Europe.

With the EU threatening retaliatory tariffs, and the ties between the US and the rest of NATO increasingly fraught, serious concerns and questions are being raised about how the US view Europe, and indeed all their allies, under this Trump Administrations ‘America First’ agenda.

Monday Wire Producer Alex spoke with Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Otago, Professor Robert Patman, about these tariffs, what they say about Trump's intent, and what sort of reaction we may see.

NZ Fire and Emergency Strike action has continued this month, with the planned strike coinciding with the substantial blaze last Friday at The Pita House in Pakuranga. Volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene in half an hour, with a statement from the emergency service saying employed responders would have otherwise been at the scene in four minutes. 

Tāmaki has also been hosting the ASB Classic, with the final taking place earlier this week, crowning Ukrainian Elina Svitolina as winner. 

I spoke to Councillor Shane Henderson about these topics, as well as his focus areas for council mahi in 2026.