Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this stream, linguist Prof. Emily M. Bender and sociologist Dr. Alex Hanna break down the AI hype, separate fact from fiction, and science from bloviation. They're joined by special guests and talk about everything, from machine consciousness to science fiction, to political economy to art made by machines.
If you prefer this in podcast form or want to read the transcript, find Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 on Buzzsprout or wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417
And if you can't wait for the next stream, Alex and Emily have plenty to say in their regular newsletter dispatches. Subscribe via Buttondown here.
Can “AI” do your science for you? Should it be your co-author? We explain why so-called “fully automated, open-ended scientific discovery” can’t live up to the grandiose promises of tech companies.
Do you feel like this summer has brought just unending terrible ideas for how to use “AI”? You’re not alone! The time has come, yet again, for Emily and Alex to clear out the poison, purge some backlog, and take a journey through AI hell.
As countries see their populations age, tech CEOs are pitching AI "solutions" to the need for better care options. Researcher Clara Berridge explains how chatbots invade privacy, and fail to meet real needs.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan envisions a future where your digital, LLM-powered 'twin' could take your place in meetings, reply to your emails, and...let you go to the beach. Alex and Emily are on the case.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan envisions a future where your digital, LLM-powered 'twin' could take your place in meetings, reply to your emails, and...let you go to the beach. Alex and Emily are on the case.
Why are AI companies pushing chatbots to replace the work of nurses? National Nurses United's Michelle Mahon explains how the hype undermines meaningful patient care.
When is a research paper not a research paper? When it's an 80-page speculation on AI harms, minus context. Guest: Ali Alkhatib.
A takedown of Google's already-panned AI Overviews and long history of degrading our access to information. Guest: Safiya Noble.
We dissect the Senate's AI Working Group report, which focuses on "innovation" and national security rather than privacy or ethics.
Dr. Margaret Mitchell joins Emily to critique of fears that LLMs may some day intentionally lie to and manipulate human users.
Alex and Emily slog through the meltwaters of previously frozen AI Hell. And yeah, there's a special corner for ShotSpotter.
Drs. Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri examine why AI can't do our scientific research for us.
Timnit Gebru joins Alex to tear apart Marc Andreessen's lofty TESCREAL manifesto.
AI journalist Karen Hao helps Alex and Emily look at how generative AI is poised to hollow out already-struggling media outlets.
We take on research papers claiming LLMs could be used to replace human labor and human subjects in social science research.
We focus on the pitfalls of global and US military institutions attempting to build 'ethical' frameworks for autonomous weapons.
We review AI-driven educational technologies, and the lack of protections for terms of data privacy or emotional safety.
Alex and Emily unpack implausible claims about the number of workforce tasks LLMs might make cheaper, faster or easier.
Feminist technosolutionism critics Eleanor Drage and Kerry McInerney tear down AI as a solution to structural inequality.
Alex and Emily visit all seven circles of AI Hell in a whirlwind tour of the worst in bite-sized BS.
Justin Hendrix joins to talk about the limitations of the hearings, and how legislation on data privacy could make a difference.
Sarah West and Andreas Liesenfeld join us to examine what software companies really mean when they say 'open source.'
Emily and Alex time travel back to an event commonly mythologized as the founding of the field of artificial intelligence.
Drs. Emma Strubell and Sasha Luccioni join Emily and Alex for an environment-focused hour of AI hype.
Emily and Alex read through Google vice president Blaise Aguera y Arcas' recent proclamation that "artificial general intelligence is already here."
Emily and Alex are joined by Stanford PhD student Haley Lepp to examine the increasing hype around LLMs in education spaces.
A look at the two-tiered system that might emerge if LLMs are brought into the diagnostic process, with biomedical data science Roxana Daneshjou.
Emily and Alex tackle the White House hype about the 'voluntary commitments' of companies to limit the harms of their LLMs.
Emily and Alex are joined by Dr. Lucy Suchman to scrutinize a new book from Henry Kissinger that declares a new 'Age of AI'
Emily and Alex talk to UC Berkeley scholar Hannah Zeavin about the datafication and automation of mental health services.
Take a deep breath and join Alex and Emily in hell itself, as they take down a month's worth of AI hype.
Alex and Emily shovel the BS on GPT-4’s “system card,” alleged “sparks of Artificial General Intelligence,” and an "AI pause" letter.
Alex and Emily are joined by law and technology scholar Kendra Albert for a conversation about ChatGPT.
Alex and Emily discuss the not-so-real medical and healthcare applications of ChatGPT and other large language models.
Emily and Alex discuss ChatGPT and all the surrounding hype. Also, more fresh AI hell.
Emily and Alex are joined this week by Dr. Jeremy G. Kahn to discuss evaluation metrics and some new AI hell.
Emily and Alex discuss MetaAI's bullshit science paper generator, Galactica, along with its defenders. Also, more fresh AI hell.
Emily and Alex discuss Sam Bankman-Fried's Future Fund and their essay contest.
Emily and Alex are joined this week by Drs. Johnathan Flowers, Negar Rostamzedah, and Jennifer Lena to discuss the hype around AI Art.
Emily and Alex finally finish their reading of "Can machines learn how to behave?" by Blaise Aguera y Arcas.
Emily and Alex continue their reading of "Can machines learn how to behave?" by Blaise Aguera y Arcas.
Emily and Alex read through "Can machines learn how to behave?" by Blaise Aguera y Arcas, a Google VP for AI.