Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000

Crunching the Numbers (with Decca Muldowney), 2025.10.20


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So-called AI tools are increasingly infiltrating newsrooms, particularly when it comes to data analysis. DAIR writer-in-residence Decca Muldowney joins us to discuss the need for journalists to distinguish between "AI" and reliable, verifiable research methods.

Decca Muldowney is a journalist and writer who was our fact checker for The AI Con. She's also a writer-in-residence and web editor at the Distributed AI Research Institute.

References:

  • An early AI pioneer shares how the "vibe coding" revolution could reshape data journalism
  • America's top companies keep talking about AI — but can't explain the upsides
  • Analysis: 96.2% of Climate News Stories Don't Cover Animal Agriculture as a Pollution Source

Fresh AI Hell:

  • Teen Sues Maker of Fake-Nude Software
  • ChatGPT's Hail Mary: Chatbots You Can Fuck
  • GitLaw announces "Vibe Lawyering"
  • Salesforce Offers Its Services to Boost Trump’s Immigration Force
  • Towns are saying no to AI data centers. One got sued over it.
  • Rent a Cyber Friend will pay you to talk to strangers online
  • The Wire's David Simon is over it

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.

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Emily

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Alex

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  • Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000By Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna

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