media

media commentaries, interviews, op-eds

Full-length op-ed/articles:

  1. “NZ’s new AI strategy is long on ‘economic opportunity’ but short on managing ethical and social risk”. In The Conversation, 11th July 2025. link, also re-published RNZ
  2. “I’m a senior lecturer in AI and these are my worries about the technology” (NB: my original title was: “AI: For Who?”). In The Post, 1th July 2025. link non-paywall
  3. “Andrew Lensen: Judith Collins has all but ruled out AI regulation. That scares me”. In The NZ Herald, 3rd August 2024. link non-paywall
  4. “AI: Behind the Buzzword”. In Safeguard Magazine, March/April 2024, Issue 198. link
  5. “Opinion: AI is already taking NZ jobs — what needs to be done”. In The NZ Herald, 31st, March 2024. link non-paywall
  6. “NZ’s political leaders are ignoring the mounting threats from AI — and that’s putting everyone at risk” In The Conversation, 5th October 2023. link
  7. “We built an algorithm that predicts the length of court sentences — could AI play a role in the justice system?”. In The Conversation, 30th November 2022. link

Interviewed for (TV):

  1. NZ’s New AI Strategy. TVNZ One News, 9th July 2025.
  2. “Increasing Difficulty in Distinguishing Real from AI-generated Images”. TVNZ Breakfast, 25th June 2025. link
  3. “Fresh drama in Silicon Valley over new AI firm”. Newshub, 20th June 2024. link
  4. “AI video generation is advancing rapidly, unlocking creativity but also raising urgent concerns”. Newshub, 17th June 2024. link

Interviewed for (print/online):

  1. “Govt’s “nothing burger” AI strategy short on new policy & investment” In Pulse+IT, 10th July 2025. link
  2. “Government’s national AI plan met with enthusiasm, concern”. In the Otago Daily Times, 9th July 2025.
  3. “Government’s AI strategy criticised for lack of detail, timelines”. In The NZ Herald, 9th July 2025. link
  4. “Government unveils its first-ever national artificial intelligence strategy”. In RNZ, 8th July 2025. link
  5. “Anthropic study reveals AI agents could go rogue, resort to blackmail or corporate espionage if threatened with shutdown”. In The NZ Herald, 27th June 2025. link
  6. “How to tell if an image or video has been created by AI - and if we still can”. In RNZ, 24th June 2025. link
  7. “‘It was real to me’: The AI therapist will see you now”. In Sunday Star-Times, The Post, The Press, 15th June 2025. link
  8. “City councillor ‘stunned’ at deepfake shooting video”. In Nelson Mail, The Press, 10th June 2025. link.
  9. “Off-the-shelf AI leading the way”. In BusinessDesk, 2th April 2025. link
  10. “Many public servants using AI off their own bat, but few trained - experts raise red flags”. In The NZ Herald, 15th April 2025. link
  11. “Is Tiktok a national security risk? What you need to know”. In RNZ, 8th February 2025. link
  12. “NZ MPs get behind-the-scenes DeepSeek warning”. In The NZ Herald, 7th February 2025. link
  13. “DeepSeek breakthrough raises AI energy questions”. Agence France-Press (AFP) news agency, syndicated worldwide, 28th January 2025. example link
  14. “‘Believe Nothing’: The impossible challenge of a post-facts world”. In Sunday Star-Times, The Post, The Press, 26th January 2025. link
  15. “Apple Intelligence launches in NZ today - why experts say it has a privacy advantage over rivals”. In The NZ Herald, 12th December 2024. link
  16. “Artificial intelligence degrees in demand at New Zealand Universities”. In Newstalk ZB, 26th November 2024. link
  17. “Sick of AI hype? I have some bad news”. In Vox, 18th October 2024. link
  18. “Did the physics Nobel committee get swept up in the AI hype?”. In Cosmos Magazine, 10th October 2024. link
  19. “AI could take thousands of call centre jobs at ASB’s Australian parent. How about here?”. In NZ Herald, 18th September 2024. link
  20. “How artificial intelligence may help NZ birds”. In RNZ, Stuff, 1News, Print Regional Newspapers, 15th September 2024. rnz stuff 1News
  21. “AI isn’t killing jobs yet, it’s reducing hiring needs”. In BusinessDesk, 5th September 2024. link
  22. “Tech industry offers AI solution to NZ’s productivity problem”. In Newsroom, 6th August 2024. link
  23. “AI is already straining electricity systems — and we’re just at the beginning”. In The Spinoff, 31st July 2024. link
  24. “New AI video tech: ‘It brings a lot of things into question’”. In RNZ, 19th June 2024. link
  25. “AI revolution: Why the speed of human job losses is causing concern”. In The NZ Herald, 28th March 2024. link
  26. “‘Unauthorised’: NZ authors’ books used to train big tech AI”. In The NZ Herald, 16th November 2023. link
  27. “How is AI affecting the election?”. In The Post, 6th October 2023. link
  28. “10 ways AI is making life better”. In Your Weekend, 30th September 2023. link
  29. “Political parties must outline AI strategy, regulation — tech industry”. In RNZ, 4th September 2023. link
  30. “ScamGPT: Hackers and criminals are harnessing the power of AI”. In The New Daily (AU), 20th July 2023. link
  31. “Purpose-built facial recognition software aims to identify individual kākā”. In The Dominion Post, 5th November 2021. link

Interviewed for (live radio/podcast):

  1. “Academic warns over using AI to reduce costs of Regulatory Standards Bill”. On Midday Report, RNZ, 17th July 2025. link
  2. “Government launches new AI strategy”. On Nights, RNZ, 8th July 2025. link
  3. “AI business managers ‘optimistic still’ after Project Vend”. On Midday Report, RNZ, 7th July 2025. link
  4. “Episode 11 - Dr Andrew Lensen for AI!”. On Guest Lecture (Podcast), Salient, 26th May 2025. podcast
  5. “Research, ethics, and artificial intelligence”. On The Detail, RNZ, 16th May 2025. podcast article
  6. “Water, AI & the craic – Your questions answered”. On Living Planet, Deutsche Welle (DW), 28th February 2025. link
  7. “Interest in AI degree grows amid rapid tech developments”. On The Mike Hosking Breakfast, Newstalk ZB, 26th November 2024. link
  8. “What is Artificial Intelligence?”. On the Smooth Brain Society (Podcast), October 2023. link
  9. “Missing from the Campaign trail: AI in New Zealand”. On Radio One 91FM, 9th October 2023. link
  10. “Andrew Lensen: AI lecturer says social media platforms work to keep users engaged”. On The Mike Hosking Breakfast, Newstalk ZB, 28th July 2023. link
  11. “AI and the Justice System”. On RNZ The Panel, 5th December 2022. link
  12. “AI and the Justice System”. On ABC Canberra (AU), 5th December 2022.

Expert opinion/comment (written and recorded):

  1. NZ’s New AI Strategy. Mediaworks Bulletins, 8th July 2025.
  2. NZ’s New AI Strategy. Newstalk ZB/NZME Bulletins, 8th July 2025.
  3. NZ’s New AI Strategy. Radio New Zealand Bulletins, 8th July 2025.
  4. AI for Pharmac and Medsafe. Mediaworks Bulletins, 2nd July 2025.
  5. AI and Employment/Career Ladder Gaps. Newstalk ZB/NZME Morning Bulletins, 20th June 2025.
  6. Fact Check on “Trump ‘cokehead’ attack on Zelenskiy is a deepfake”. AAP FactCheck, 5th June 2025. link
  7. “GovGPT legacy and private offerings”. Newstalk ZB/NZME Morning Bulletins, April 2025.
  8. Fact Check on “Altered Trump videos used to push fake Golden Eagles investment scheme”. AAP FactCheck, 30th December 2024. link
  9. Fact Check on “Deepfake or cheapfake? Video making false allegations against Walz goes viral”. AAP FactCheck, 29th October 2024. link
  10. Fact Check on “Fake Kamala Harris ad promotes insurance, not abortion rights”. AAP FactCheck, 8th October 2024. link
  11. “GovGPT”. Newstalk ZB/NZME Morning Bulletins, 13th September 2024.
  12. “AI and Mental Health”. Newstalk ZB/NZME Morning Bulletins, 11th April 2024.
  13. “AI Safety Summit in the UK — Expert Reaction”. Science Media Centre, 1st November 2023. link
  14. “Tech experts call for parties to announce AI strategy”. On RNZ, 4th September 2023. link
  15. “The impact of Meta’s algorithms during the 2020 US election — Expert Reaction”. Science Media Centre, 28th July 2023. link