34. Bullshit Mountain: Unmasking AI's Empty Promises w/ The AI Con authors Emily M. Bender & Alex Hanna

We have two special guests. Dr. Emily M. Bender & Dr. Alex Hanna, the authors of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. This review best captures why you should read this book:

A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold under this banner, and why it’s crucial to recognize the many ways in which AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the world.

Get more info about the book at https://thecon.ai

This episode challenges the hype around AI and is a critical conversation for anyone working in technology or planning to leverage AI. In this episode we cover:

➤ Exaggerations and limitations of AI & LLMs

➤ Until we know how LLMs are trained, we can’t trust them

➤ Focussing on assisting users, not replacing workers

➤ Workers must stand up and resist AI automation

➤ The damage caused by AI hype boosters & doomers

Dr. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington where she is also the Faculty Director of the Computational Linguistics Master of Science program and affiliate faculty in the School of Computer Science and Engineering and the Information School. In 2023, she was included in the inaugural Time 100 list of the most influential people in AI. She is frequently consulted by policymakers, from municipal officials to the federal government to the United Nations, for insight into how to understand so-called AI technologies.

Dr. Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a Lecturer in the School of Information at the University of California Berkeley. She is an outspoken critic of the tech industry, a proponent of community-based uses of technology, and a highly sought-after speaker and expert who has been featured across the media, including articles in the Washington Post, Financial Times, The Atlantic, and Time.

Dr Bender & Dr. Hanna are also the hosts of the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast, where they take on the latest news from AI and technology.

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Arpy Dragffy Guerrero (Founder & Principal Strategist PH1 Research) https://www.linkedin.com/in/adragffy/ 

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