It's been six months since our last all-Hell episode! In honor of Halloween season, we take a long journey into the very scary Fresh AI Hell mines. Topics include terrifying uses of AI in education, scientific research, and politics — plus, some delicious palate cleansers along the way.

AI bubble: bigger than dot-com bust?

No one wants to pay for ChatGPT

Meta lays off 600 from AI unit

AI data centers: an even bigger disaster than we thought

Public universities anticipate data center-driven power outages

Chaser: Deloitte has to pay back Albanese government after using AI in report

"AI" schools are "dead classrooms"

Fake sources in "ethical AI" education report

Parents letting kids play with AI

Startup sells 'synthetic influencers'

AI-powered textbooks fail to make the grade

Chaser: "High-reliability" AI slop

Nature offers "AI-powered research assistant"

AI bots wrote all papers at this conference

"AI" reviewing at AAAI

AI medical tools downplay symptoms in women and POC

Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT

Chaser: Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology

German initiative uses "AI" for voter education

Police gunshot detection mics will listen for human voices

SF's AI chatbot for RV dwellers

Cuomo campaign posts racist AI slop

DHS Ordered OpenAI To Share User Data

Chaser: LA County moves to limit license plate tracking

A new form of eugenics

"AI Superintelligence" prohibition letter

Emad Mostaque's LLM blurbs

Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery

Chaser: The hot new trend in marketing: hating on AI

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

Powerful AI boosters claim to love science fiction novels, but why do they always seem to take the wrong lessons from them? Reporter and writer Reo Eveleth joins us to discuss the ways tech leaders misuse storytelling, and how we can avoid their visions to imagine better futures.

Reo Eveleth is a reporter, writer, and co-founder of COYOTE Media Collective. They created the hit independent show Flash Forward, which they also turned into a book of the same name. Reo’s work has been nominated for a Peabody, an Emmy, and an Eisner Award.

References:

• Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real
• How New Science Fiction Could Help Us Improve AI

Also Referenced:

• Statement from the listed authors of Stochastic Parrots on the “AI pause” letter

Fresh AI Hell:

• Stop Worrying About AI’s Return on Investment
• The most radical act of feminism? Using AI
• Leader of Albania Pelted With Trash for Appointing AI-Powered Minister to Cabinet
• The Human Cost of Every ChatGPT Query: Inside the Cobalt Mines That Power AI
• Altman on "AGI" and quantum gravity
• OK Go - Impulse Purchase

Correction: We misstated Lee Ostertag's name during the livestream for this episode. We apologize for the error!

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

It's Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000's third birthday! To celebrate, Emily and Alex respond to listener questions about the show, and reflect on the past and future of AI hype. Topics range from how to talk to your kids about LLMs, to what the MAIHT3k birthday cake looks like.

Artifacts referenced:

AI and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Benchmark

Data and its (dis)contents

Stochastic Parrots Day

Dr. Casey Fiesler on TikTok

Dr. Nicole Holliday on TikTok

Alex and Emily’s media appearances about The AI Con

Emily and Alex on The Data Fix with Dr. Mél Hogan

Emily’s interview with Dr. Carl Rhodes

Stinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good Billionaire

October 21st event for The AI Con

FAccT AI Workers’ Inquiry Panel

Emily’s presentation at UNESCO Digital Learning Week — Paper version on pp.41-45 here

A Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In.

Fresh AI Hell:

Meet the Robot Using AI to Ink Your Next Tattoo

Medicare Will Start Paying AI Companies a Share of Any Claims They Automatically Reject

Taco Bell AI drive-through

Can AI doulas improve maternal health?

Countries are struggling to meet the rising energy demands of data centers

Bluesky post about Business Insider

OpenAI has reportedly misjudged its cash burn by $80 billion

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

Talking to chatbots can have serious mental health consequences — fueling delusions and leading users away from consensus reality. Futurism writer Maggie Harrison Dupré joins us to unpack the hype around AI therapists, based on her groundbreaking reporting on "AI psychosis."

Maggie Harrison Dupré is an award-winning tech journalist at Futurism who’s reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping media, information, humans, and our real and digital lives.

References:

How AI Is Expanding The Mental Health Market

He Had Dangerous Delusions. ChatGPT Admitted It Made Them Worse.

OpenAI: What we're optimizing ChatGPT for

Also referenced:

Gov Pritzker Signs Legislation Prohibiting AI Therapy in Illinois

People Are Becoming Obsessed with ChatGPT and Spiraling Into Severe Delusions

Stanford: New study warns of risks in AI mental health tools

Fresh AI Hell:

Bluesky post about DEI by chatbot

How AI is being used by police departments to help draft reports

Politico's recent AI experiments shouldn’t be subject to newsroom editorial standards, its editors testify

UK Asks People to Delete Emails In Order to Save Water During Drought

Sam Altman says 'yes,' AI is in a bubble

Google's AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.

Mastodon post about Dieter Roth's Literaturwürste

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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 Plan

Also referenced:

People’s AI Action Plan

Fresh AI Hell:

Medical Pros Risk Malpractice Suits by Avoiding AI Innovation

Google search’s next cash cow

AI Is Coming for the Consultants. Inside McKinsey, ‘This Is Existential.’

The rise of AI tools that write about you when you die

Amazon’s Alexa Fund Invests in ‘Netflix of AI’ Start-Up Fable, Which Launches Showrunner: A Tool for User-Directed TV Shows

In federal lawsuit, students allege Lawrence school district’s AI surveillance tool violates their rights

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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 Nuts

LLMs: the opposable thumb of computing

A disastrous day in the life of a vibe coder

Also referenced:

Signal president Meredith Whittaker on the fundamental security problem with agentic AI

The "S" in MCP stands for security

Our Opinions Are Correct: The Turing Test is Bullshit

AI Hell:

Sam Altman: The (gentle) singularity is already here

What do the boosters think reading is, anyway?

Meta's climate model made up fake CO2 removal ideas

Ongoing 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 president

WSJ headline claims ChatGPT "self-reflection", gets dunked

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.

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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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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 it

AFT 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 America

Fresh AI Hell:

Missouri AG investigating why chatbots don’t like Trump

Gig workers calling ICE on other undocumented gig workers

Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI

USF makes a PTSD detector...trained on children

People falling in love with Replika chatbots

Elon Musk thirsting over xAI anime construct

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

• 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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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.

References

Everyone is cheating their way through college (with ChatGPT)

The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison Pugh

Te Hiku Media

Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence by Dan McQuillan

Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies

Pennsylvania's SEIU Local 668 wins a victory against AI

Elon Musk's xAI is polluting Black Memphis residents

Possible Futures: An Internet for Our Elders

Better Images of AI

The 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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

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 Francisco

Anthropic? More like anthropomorphic

Karen Hao on her new book "Empire of AI" in conversation with Alex and Emily

Fresh AI Hell:

Don't use ChatGPT to summon demons

AI prompts accidentally left in novels

"AI" tutors are teaching fentanyl recipes

xAI's data center polluting Memphis with unpermitted methane generators

Gemini's on Bluesky - block it

Family uses "AI" generated avatar to give victim impact statement

The market for "AI friends"? Lonely losers

No, 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/Mastodon

Music: Toby Menon.
 Production: Christie Taylor.
 Graphic Design: Naomi Pleasure-Pa

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 Ozzy Llinas Goodman.