Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000

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Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this stream, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna break down the AI hype, separate fact from fiction, and science from bloviation. They're ... more

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FAQs about Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000:

How many episodes does Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 have?

The podcast currently has 37 episodes available.

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 episodes:

January 09, 2026Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 70 - Wrapping Up a Hellish 2025
For our last recording of 2025, Emily and Alex take on a TIME article naming the "architects of AI" as their person of the year. We also look back at the year in AI nonsense, and share findings from our Fresh AI Hell Wrapped. Happy Hype-y New Year!
References:
"The Architects of AI Are TIME's 2025 Person of the Year"
Stanford AI Index Report
Also referenced:
Original "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photo
"The Number of People Using AI at Work Is Suddenly Falling"
Fresh AI Hell:
Fresh AI Hell, Wrapped
Adobe for Education outputs sexualized images
"'Low Tech ChatGPT' on physical paper"
"Springer Nature retracts, removes nearly 40 publications that trained neural networks on 'bonkers' dataset"
Hologram lecturers and robot sandwich-makers
"'ChatGPT for Doctors' Startup Doubles Valuation to $12 Billion as Revenue Surges"
No more ideas. Need AIdeas!
"For the First Time, AI Analyzes Language as Well as a Human Expert"
"Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man’s Meta Smart Glasses on Subway"
Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.
Find our book, The AI Con, here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
December 17, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 69 - Defining AGI: Oops! All Eugenics
There's a new definition of artificial general intelligence in town, and unsurprisingly... it's bad! Alex and Emily rip up the tissue-paper-thin premises behind this latest attempt to define "intelligence." Plus, we discover that AI hypers love using logos that look like buttholes.
References:
"A Definition of AGI" landing page and paper-shaped object
Fresh AI Hell:
"What If Sea Monkeys Constantly, Sometimes Dangerously, Bullshitted People"
Doctronic, the "AI doctor"
NIST reports companies cheat on "AI" evaluations
"Microsoft Lowers Sales Staff's Growth Targets For Newer AI Software"
"PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections"
"AI" assistant pop-up whack-a-mole
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
December 08, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 68 - This is What Algo-cracy Looks Like
Tech leaders are pushing the idea that automation can strengthen democracy — but as usual, their bold suggestions are based on castles made of sand. Alex and Emily tear down some flimsy arguments for AI governance, exposing their incorrect assumptions about the democratic process.
References:
"This Is No Way to Rule a Country"
"Four ways AI is being used to strengthen democracies worldwide"
Also referenced:
Collective Intelligence Project surveys
Interview with CalMatters CEO
Fresh AI Hell:
Amazon introduces AI translation for Kindle authors
Nature op ed recommends AI versions of Einstein, Bohr, and Feynman
"An AI Podcasting Machine Is Churning Out 3,000 Episodes a Week"
AI dating café to open in New York
Recipe slop flooding social media
AI slop about Autism published in Nature
Upwork ad for fixing LLM editorial
"Hundreds of Chicago residents sign petition to pause robot delivery pilot program over safety concerns"
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
November 24, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 67 - You Talked to Workers for This Labor Research... Right?
Last month, Senate Democrats warned that “Automation Could Destroy Nearly 100 Million U.S Jobs in a Decade.” Ironically, they used ChatGPT to come to that conclusion. DAIR Research Associate Sophie Song joins us to unpack the issues when self-professed worker advocates use chatbots for "research."
Sophie Song is a researcher, organizer, and advocate working at the intersection of tech and social justice. They’re a research associate at DAIR, where they're working with Alex on building the Luddite Lab Resource Hub.
References:
Senate report: AI and Automation Could Destroy Nearly 100 Million U.S Jobs in a Decade
Also referenced: MAIHT3k Episode 25: An LLM Says LLMs Can Do Your Job
Senator Sanders' AI Report Ignores the Data on AI and Inequality
Also referenced: Humlum paper: Large Language Models, Small Labor Market Effects
Fresh AI Hell:
Tech companies compelling vibe coding
arXiv is overwhelmed by LLM slop
Also referenced: Emily's blog post: Scholarship should be open, inclusive and slow
'Godfather of AI' says tech giants can't profit from their astronomical investments unless human labor is replaced
If you want to satiate AI’s hunger for power, Google suggests going to space
AI pioneers claim human-level general intelligence is already here
Gen AI campaign against ranked choice voting
Workplace AI Implementation Bingo
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
November 04, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 66 - Drag It All To Hell
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.
Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble:
Why this analyst says the AI bubble is 17 times bigger than the dot-com bust
Also referenced: AI Isn't a Superintelligence. It's a Market in Need of Disclosure.
OpenAI's ChatGPT is so popular that almost no one will pay for it
Meta lays off 600 from 'bloated' AI unit as Wang cements leadership
AI Data Centers Are an Even Bigger Disaster Than Previously Thought
Public universities anticipating data center-driven power outages
Chaser: Deloitte to pay money back to Albanese government after using AI in $440,000 report
I Was a Teenage AI User:
"AI" schools are "dead classrooms"
Also referenced: NYT article + further reporting in Wired
Education report calling for ethical AI use contains over 15 fake sources
'My son genuinely believed it was real': Parents are letting little kids play with AI
a16z-Backed Startup Sells Thousands of 'Synthetic Influencers' to Manipulate Social Media as a Service
AI-powered textbooks fail to make the grade in South Korea
Chaser: "High-reliability" AI slop
Mad Scientists:
Nature offers "AI-powered research assistant"
AI bots wrote and reviewed all papers at this conference
Also referenced: Previous MAIHT3k episode with Haley Lepp + previous episode with MJ Crockett and Lisa Messeri
"AI" reviewing at AAAI
AI medical tools downplay symptoms in women and ethnic minorities
Also referenced: Previous MAIHT3k episode with Roxana Daneshjou
Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT
Also referenced: Anat Perry's research
Chaser: Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians
Also referenced: No Azure for Apartheid
Twelve Angry LLMs:
German initiative uses "AI" for voter education
Flock's Gunshot Detection Microphones Will Start Listening for Human Voices
SF launched an AI chatbot for RV dwellers. It's got errors.
Also referenced: NYC’s AI Chatbot Tells Businesses to Break the Law
Cuomo campaign posts racist AI slop
DHS Ordered OpenAI To Share User Data In First Known Warrant For ChatGPT Prompts
Chaser: LA County moves to limit license plate tracking, citing CalMatters report
Aaahh!!! TESCREAL Monsters:
A new form of straight up eugenics
Hundreds of Power Players, From Steve Wozniak to Steve Bannon, Just Signed a Letter Calling for Prohibition on Development of AI Superintelligence
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
October 23, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 65 - Crunching the Numbers (with Decca Muldowney)
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
October 04, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 64 - Building Worlds Through Better Reading (with Reo Eveleth)
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
September 25, 2025Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 63 - Three Years of Ridicule as Praxis
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.
Previous MAIHT3k episodes referenced:
Episode 1: “Can Machines Learn To Behave?”
Episode 14: Henry Kissinger, Machines of War, and the Age of Military AI Hype
Episode 20: Let's Do the Time Warp!
Episode 31: Science Is a Human Endeavor
Episode 45: Billionaires, Influencers, and Ed Tech
Episode 50: Petro-Masculinity Versus the Planet
Episode 52: The Anti-Bookclub Tackles ‘Superagency’
Episode 57: The “AI”-Enabled Immigration Panopticon
Episode 58: “Like Magic Intelligence in the Cloud”
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
Bluesky post about 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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
September 04, 2025 Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 62 - The Robo-Therapist Will See You Now (with Maggie Harrison Dupré)
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor and Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min
August 22, 2025 Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 61 - Winning the Race to Hell (with Sarah Myers West and Kate Brennan)
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 here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
Follow Emily: Bluesky/Mastodon
Follow Alex: Bluesky/Mastodon
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor and Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
...more
0min

FAQs about Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000:

How many episodes does Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 have?

The podcast currently has 37 episodes available.