Winning the Race to Hell (with Sarah Myers West and Kate Brennan), 2025.08.04
Trump’s “AI Action Plan” is his latest attempt to turn AI hype into official national policy. Kate Brennan and Sarah Myers West, of the AI Now Institute, join us to dig through this pile of deregulatory gifts to Big Tech.Dr. Sarah Myers West is co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, and a former senior advisor on AI for the FTC.Dr. Kate Brennan is associate director of the AI Now Institute, where she spearheads their policy work, informed by a doctorate in law and years of experience in the tech industry.References:Winning the Race: America’s AI Action PlanAlso referenced:People’s AI Action PlanFresh AI Hell:Medical Pros Risk Malpractice Suits by Avoiding AI InnovationGoogle search’s next cash cowAI Is Coming for the Consultants. Inside McKinsey, ‘This Is Existential.’The rise of AI tools that write about you when you dieAmazon’s Alexa Fund Invests in ‘Netflix of AI’ Start-Up Fable, Which Launches Showrunner: A Tool for User-Directed TV ShowsIn federal lawsuit, students allege Lawrence school district’s AI surveillance tool violates their rightsCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.
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Vibe Coding: Four Security Nightmares in a Trenchcoat (with Susanna Cox), 2025.07.21
After many months of making fun of the term "vibe coding," Emily and Alex tackle the LLMs-as-coders fad head-on, with help from security researcher Susanna Cox. From one person's screed that proclaims everyone not on the vibe-coding bandwagon to be crazy, to the grandiose claim that LLMs could be the "opposable thumb" of the entire world of computing. It's big yikes, all around.Susanna Cox is a consulting AI security researcher and a member of the core author team at OWASP AI Exchange.References:My AI Skeptic Friends Are All NutsLLMs: the opposable thumb of computingA disastrous day in the life of a vibe coderAlso referenced:Signal president Meredith Whittaker on the fundamental security problem with agentic AIThe "S" in MCP stands for securityOur Opinions Are Correct: The Turing Test is BullshitAI Hell:Sam Altman: The (gentle) singularity is already hereWhat do the boosters think reading is, anyway?Meta's climate model made up fake CO2 removal ideasOngoing lawsuit means all your ChatGPT conversations will be saved"Dance like you're part of the training set"Some Guy tries to mansplain Signal to…Signal's presidentWSJ headline claims ChatGPT "self-reflection", gets dunkedCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.
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Et Tu, American Federation of Teachers? (with Charles Logan), 2025.07.14
The chatbot boosters are looking for educators to play brand ambassador for more intrusion of so-called "AI" into the classroom. From the American Federation of Teachers' new partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft for a "national academy for AI instruction" to yet more articles extolling the alleged time-saving and future-proofing virtues of LLM-powered ed tech, the hype can feel relentless. Charles Logan joins Alex and Emily for a critical look at the latest propaganda for "AI" in the classroom.Charles Logan is a former English teacher and current PhD candidate in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University.References:Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping itAFT to Launch National Academy for AI Instruction with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and United Federation of Teachers Also referenced:Tressie McMillan Cottom on "predatory inclusion"Daniel Greene's "The Access Doctrine"The Group Chats that Changed AmericaFresh AI Hell:Missouri AG investigating why chatbots don’t like TrumpGig workers calling ICE on other undocumented gig workersTech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEIUSF makes a PTSD detector...trained on childrenPeople falling in love with Replika chatbotsElon Musk thirsting over xAI anime constructCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.
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Why "AI" Is a Con: Our Book Launch! (with Vauhini Vara), 2025.05.08
It's finally here! The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want hit the shelves in May. In this special bonus episode, Alex and Emily speak to tech journalist Vauhini Vara at one of the book's online launch events, where they covered the misleading nature of the term "artificial intelligence," why the use of tools like ChatGPT will only ever cheapen human labor and enrich the already powerful, and how people can fight the narrative that these technologies are inevitable.Vauhini Vara is a technology reporter and writer. Her journalism has been honored by the Asian American Journalists Association, the International Center for Journalists, the McGraw Center for Business Journalism, and others. Her latest book is Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, a work of journalism and memoir about how big technology companies are exploiting human communication — and how we’re complicit in this.ReferencesEveryone is cheating their way through college (with ChatGPT)The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison PughTe Hiku MediaResisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence by Dan McQuillanRefusing Generative AI in Writing StudiesPennsylvania's SEIU Local 668 wins a victory against AIElon Musk's xAI is polluting Black Memphis residentsPossible Futures: An Internet for Our EldersBetter Images of AIThe Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.
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"Like Magic Intelligence in the Cloud", 2025.05.26
Because Sam Altman hates opening his laptop, OpenAI is merging with iPhone guy Jony Ive's design firm in the name of some mysterious new ChatGPT-enabled consumer products: Alex and Emily go full Mystery Science Theater and dissect the announcement video. Plus how tech billionaires like Sam Altman mythologize San Francisco while their money makes it less livable for everyone else.References:Sam Altman and Jony Ive are merging (Video)Emplacedness, real estate, and gentrification in San FranciscoAnthropic? More like anthropomorphicKaren Hao on her new book "Empire of AI" in conversation with Alex and EmilyFresh AI Hell:Don't use ChatGPT to summon demonsAI prompts accidentally left in novels"AI" tutors are teaching fentanyl recipesxAI's data center polluting Memphis with unpermitted methane generatorsGemini's on Bluesky - block itFamily uses "AI" generated avatar to give victim impact statementThe market for "AI friends"? Lonely losersNo, LGBTESCREAL isn't a thing*****You can check out future streams at on Twitch, and send us any AI Hell you see for future episodes.Our book, The AI Con, is out! Get your copy now.Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon Follow Alex: Bluesky/MastodonMusic: Toby Menon. Production: Christie Taylor. Graphic Design: Naomi Pleasure-Park.Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.
Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this podcast, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna break down the AI hype, separate fact from fiction, and science from bloviation. They're joined by special guests and talk about everything, from machine consciousness to science fiction, to political economy to art made by machines.
USA