By ABC listen
Publication Date: 2026-02-22 15:00:00
Sam Hawley: They used to be called personal assistants or PAs. Now you can easily hire an AI agent to plan your day, answer your emails, and, well, organize your life. And the agents can even talk to each other. But is the latest wave of artificial intelligence really safe to use? Today, Shaanan Cohney, computer security expert at the University of Melbourne, talks about how it works and whether we are one step closer to AI taking over our jobs. I’m Sam Hawley on Gadigal Land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily.
Sam Hawley: Shaanan, the so-called AI agents are here. First of all, tell me: Do you have an AI bot managing your life?
Shaanan Coney: Now when I look at the computer screen in front of me, I see four different agents already working on things I assigned them to do in the last 30 minutes. You don’t have access to my email, but you do have access to many other things.
Sam Hawley: Okay, just give me an example of what they’re doing for you right now.
Shaanan Coney: So one of…
