The ‘new mobilities paradigm’ has been extremely successful in developing innovative approaches for understanding how, where, and when movement occurs. This well-established cross-disciplinary field of research has positioned research subjects (whether individual, collective, or non-human) within the global flux of movement(s) across a multitude of scales. The shift in empirical focus from the static to the mobile has produced a wide range of methodological innovations, which have in turn allowed for the greater understanding of the multiple (im)mobilities that are central to the very constitution of contemporary social and political life. Despite these important contributions, there remain questions about whether mobilities scholarship is yet to fully come terms with the theoretical challenges that emanate from its empirical orientations and methodological agenda. In this paper, we critically examine how movement has been theorised and conceptualised in mobilities research. We find that there remains important conceptual work to be done to enable a deeper ontological engagement with movement, which is necessary to fulfil the theoretical aspirations of contemporary mobilities research. We develop this sympathetic critique of the theoretical foundations of mobilities research in order to contribute to the longevity and sustainability of the rigorous inquiry that the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ has enabled.

Location-aware technologies such as GPS and smartphones are viewed as integral to everyday, mundane navigational practices or ‘wayfinding’. The personalisation, portability and popularity of these devices means that wayfinding can be performed with near-instant access to place-based information. But how do people connect to these devices in more intimate, emotional, and haptic ways? To address this question, this paper draws on my auto-ethnographic fieldwork involving wayfinding devices, using a series of iPhone navigation apps. In the paper I will present short narratives exploring the corporeal realities created as I used the apps and connected to my device through the sensory registers of talk and touch. These stories are revealing of the ways I personified my iPhone as a silent companion during my journeys. In addition, some of the apps required me to share my location with others in my life, illustrating how these technologies foster connections between people and co-create spatial knowledge. Reflecting on these stories highlights the challenges and opportunities for Australian mobilities researchers in finding appropriate theories and methodologies to explore how changing technologies impact our mobile lives. Moreover, this work points to broader questions for how, in the digital age, scholars might explore mobilities with uncertain ends.

In this paper I consider the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the creative industries, namely for post-production experts in the music industry, and the recent emergence of software utilizing AI to challenge and accompany skills in this traditionally human practice. The majority of accounts on the role of machine automation in occupational instability—most worryingly reductions in human employment—are to be found in the manufacturing and service sectors: blue and white collar jobs. However, there are as yet only limited forays into the possible consequences of AI in the creative industries, so-called 'no collar' jobs, previously understood to be sacrosanct from automation due to the high levels of intuition, affective knowledge, and other human 'assets' required in such roles. Drawing on an empirical case study of AI in audio post-production, I find that there are conflicting notions of the possible impacts of these new innovations on human skills. I highlight the role of place in how humans construct expertise and flag the mobilities of ideas as a key area of inquiry.

In 1932, HG Wells argued that the consequences of the adoption of the motorcar had been predictable for decades. Cars, he lamented, were “bound to change our roads, take passenger and goods traffic from the rails, alter the distribution of our population, [and] congest our towns with traffic. …Did we do anything to work out any of these consequences of the motor car before they came? Not much.” Now, on the eve of what is expected by many to be the biggest change in urban transport since the commercialisation of the motor car, it is appropriate to ask what we are doing to work out the consequences of an autonomous vehicle future. This paper will present a quick overview of some existing themes in research considering the consequences of widespread uptake of driverless cars. It will challenge attendees to think about what mobilities scholars could be doing now, and how they could be doing it, to avoid future lamentations that mirror that extended by HG Wells over eight decades ago.