b'Artificial intelligence vs intelligence lostFeatureArtificial intelligence versus intelligence lostPhil Schmidtphil.magneticearth@gmail.comLike most of the Preview retiree readership, I try to keep up with developments in our field and follow various publications to see what everyone is up to. It is with mixed feelings that I write this article because on the one hand there are some very exciting advancesFigure 1.The teaching out of field (outside teachers training) and decline in maths and science students coming along (and Ill highlight a few ofin high school according to the Chief Scientists website https://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/)my personal favourites later in this piece), but on the other hand the educationodt.co.nz/news/dunedin/campus/uni- Recently GPlates was one of the three system is failing to produce younggeology-department-next-line-cuts. finalists for the Australian Museum Eureka professionals to carry these advancesI know our industry has always beenPrize for Excellence in Research Software through to their next stage. It is evencyclical (one of the reasons some(EarthByte Group: Maria Seton Sabin more concerning because the educationstudents, including myself, strayed intoZahirovic Ben Mather Michael Chin John malaise extends into secondary schoolingpost-degree education was the PoseidonCannon #GPlates #pyGPlates #GPlately).where STEM (Science, Technology,collapse), but what has transpired over Engineering and Mathematics) subjectsthe last few years seems to be a functionLast year, the inaugural issue of as a whole have lost their following. Thisof factors beyond the industrys control. Future Mining https://future-mining.trend has been picked up on by Australiaspartica.online/future-mining/vol-Chief Scientist (see Figure 1) and she isI believe that a revival will come in time,1-no-1/flipbook/60/ shows GPlate hoping to be able to make a difference it has to. Meanwhile we can only hopereconstructions from a billion years all power to her arm. exploration will meet the demand forago (Ga) to present-day with porphyry Boone etal. (2021) record that thecritical minerals by making the most ofcopper deposits overlain. Most known Australian geosciences communitythe incredible advances that have beenporphyry copper deposits were formed was shocked to learn that the globallymade over the past decade but arein the last 100 million years along the recognised School of Earth and Planetaryonly now being put together in formatsTethys and the Americas. However, Science at Macquarie University in Sydneythat observers, such as myself, canthe reconstructions also highlight had been culled as part of the universityscomprehend and appreciate. some Proterozoic, Palaeozoic and early efforts to deal with pandemic-relatedMesozoic deposits.revenue losses (i.e., the universitysOne advance that has been brewing for a income had become dependent on full- few decades and is now being nationallyUnder the Exploring for the Future fee paying foreign students). While thisrecognised is GPlates. Under the guidanceprogramme, using machine learning and affected CSIRO North Ryde staff directlyand foresight of Professor Dietmar Mller,big number crunching on the National in a number of ways, and the ASEG NSWSydney University, the EarthByte teamComputational Infrastructure in Canberra, Branch with the loss of President Dr Mark(also see Education Matters by MichaelGeoscience Australia (GA) has released Lackie, Macquarie University was notAsten, Preview 195, August 2018) haswhat is thought to be the worlds first alone as geoscience departments acrossbeen focussed on seeing deep into thenational predictive maps of 10 major Australia have all suffered drastic cuts. Howearth in four dimensions and combiningoxides. The 10 major oxides with their own much was due to loss of revenue fromgeology with complex data analysispredictive maps are for Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mn, overseas students and how much was dueusing machine learning. GPlates is aMg, K, Na, Ti and p. These maps contain to low science enrolments is debatable.plate tectonics computer program thatvaluable pre-competitive information They probably both were factors. allows hypothetical reconstructions offor greenfield regions where actual data geological and palaeogeographic featurescoverage is poor. The Exploring for the University cuts to geology are also beingwhile simultaneously allowing vector,Future programme is a $225m investment made across the ditch https://www. raster and volume data to be visualised.by the Australian Government which 37 PREVIEW OCTOBER 2023'