Notices by Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) (emilymbender@dair-community.social)

I've now seen a second instance of a quote attributed to me in a news site I've never heard of (and certainly was not interviewed for). In general, if the quote includes the phrase 'AI' with no scare quotes or other distance, that's a good sign it's not really from me.

I've written to ask for a retraction, so we'll see. I suspect this is yet another case of someone posting the text extruded from an LLM as if it were news. It's appalling.

What to do about a divergence between "public" and "expert" opinion about "AI"? Some might think that we need to educate the public so that they come to understand more how experts do. I disagree: expertise in building these systems is far from the only relevant expertise.

>>

Tomorrow!

~~

On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, @mmitchell_ai (Our first repeat guest! Welcome back Meg!) joins me and @alex to talk about “AI” “agents” -- what that means, what the salesmen want you to think it means, and what to actually be concerned about.

Catch the livestream here:

Monday March 31, noon Pacific
https://twitch.tv/dair_institute

Absolute highlight of this trip: **finally** meeting @alex in person. Since 2020, we have:

1. Co-authored multiple peer-reviewed papers
2. Co-authored op-eds
3. Co-hosted a podcast now at 53 episodes
4. Written A WHOLE BOOK (thecon.ai)

And now we've finally met :)

This will be my first time participating in a debate-style event --- or at least one explicitly billed as such (looking at you, NAACL 2022 panel). Should be interesting.

Tickets are free and both in person and virtual are available.

https://computerhistory.org/events/great-chatbot-debate/

Impatient for THE AI CON to come out? So are we!

If you want to be sure to have a copy at the first possible moment, pre-order from your favorite bookseller.

https://thecon.ai/

w/ @alex

I'm frequently struck by the phrase "unintentional bias" which comes up frequently in work on LLMs. Whose intentions are in question? Why do we have to absolve those people all the time?

How about a little good news in this *gestures around*... you can now get ebooks via bookshop.org, including THE AI CON! (Available May 13, but you can pre-order now.)

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-ai-con-how-to-fight-big-tech-s-hype-and-create-the-future-we-want-alex-hanna/22044744?ean=9780063418554&digital=t

w/ @alex

DeepSeek hot take: The emperor still has no clothes, but it's very distressing to the emperor that their non-clothes can be made so much more cheaply.

Tomorrow!

For the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 live stream, @alex and I will be joined by Dr. @tamigraph to point our ridicule as praxis at tech bros’ unhinged ideas about energy and the environment

Join us here:

Monday, Jan 27, noon Pacific
https://www.twitch.tv/dair_institute

New Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 Episode!

@alex and I start the year by tearing down yet another round of “AGI” hype:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/16481095-sam-altman-s-fever-dream-2025-01-13

Thx to Christie Taylor for production!

Also available as video on PeerTube:

https://peertube.dair-institute.org/w/xg73MqYXFiXxNW9hafL1sW

Join us today!

“Mainlining AI straight into their veins,” they say?

Gina Neff will join @alex & me on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 to take apart the UK government's latest AI fiasco:

Monday, Jan 20, noon Pacific
https://www.twitch.tv/dair_institute

Tomorrow!

“Mainlining AI straight into their veins,” they say?

Gina Neff will join @alex & me on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 to take apart the UK government's latest AI fiasco:

Monday, Jan 20, noon Pacific
https://www.twitch.tv/dair_institute

Today!

It's 2025 and the techbros are still out there with their AGI fantasies.

So Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 will also still be here taking it all apart with ridicule as praxis.

@alex & I will kick off the new year by aiming that praxis at ARC, o3 and all things OpenAI:

Monday, Jan 13, noon Pacific
https://www.twitch.tv/dair_institute

Tomorrow!

It's 2025 and the techbros are still out there with their AGI fantasies.

So Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 will also still be here taking it all apart with ridicule as praxis.

@alex & I will kick off the new year by aiming that praxis at ARC, o3 and all things OpenAI:

Monday, Jan 13, noon Pacific
https://www.twitch.tv/dair_institute

Shout out to Lina Khan's FTC and the amazing work they have been doing, summarized in this post. This what a functioning regulatory body looks like & what we should continue to hold as expectations even in the face of pressure to normalize anything less.

https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2025/01/ai-risk-consumer-harm

If any Fresh AI Hell lands in your yard, you can send it our way for shoveling here:
https://thecon.ai/submit-fresh-ai-hell/

w/@alex

In Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 Episode 47, @alex and I attempt to clear the backlog of Fresh AI Hell to create a clean slate for 2025:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/16353749-episode-47-hell-is-other-people-s-ai-hype

Thx to Christie Taylor for production!

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 has had a great year! @alex, Christie Taylor and I have put out 24 episodes (so far---two more coming this month!). Here are the top 10, by downloads:

#10: Episode 31: Science Is a Human Endeavor, April 15 2024, with Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/15020029-episode-31-science-is-a-human-endeavor-feat-molly-crockett-and-lisa-messeri-april-15-2024