When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it kicked off what some have called the “AI hype machine” — a frenzy of promotion and investment that has sent some tech companies’ valuations soaring to record heights. Meanwhile, computational linguist Emily M. Bender and AI researcher and sociologist Alex Hanna have proudly worn the titles of “AI hype busters,” critiquing the industry’s loftiest claims and pointing out the real-world harms behind this wave of excitement. What began as a satirical podcast is now a book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. In this episode, Alex and Emily explain why the very term “AI” is misleading, how AI boosters and doomers are really flip sides of the same coin, and why we should question the AI inevitability narrative.

Guests:

Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics the University of Washington

Alex Hanna, director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute

Further reading/listening:

The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want — Emily Bender and Alex Hanna

The Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 Podcast — Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna

“AI” Hurts Consumers and Workers -- and Isn’t Intelligent — Emily Bender and Alex Hanna, Tech Policy Press

On the Very Real Dangers of the Artificial Intelligence Hype Machine: Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna Explore AI History, the Cold War, and a Fatally Overhyped Idea — Emily M. Bender, LitHub

People Are Crashing Out Over Sora 2’s New Guardrails — Samantha Cole, 404 Media

Sora 2 Has a Huge Financial Problem — Victor Tangermann, Futurism

We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. — James O'Donnell and Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review

Read the transcript here

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Credits:

This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. Our Producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Our editor is Chris Hambrick. Jen Chien is KQED’s Director of Podcasts, and also helps edit the show. Original music, including our theme song, by Chris Egusa. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brian Douglas and Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

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