Notable
You Are Not a Parrot
And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.
A profile of Emily in New York Magazine. (March 2023)
Alex makes Business Insider AI Power List
“A near-term AI dystopia is one in which there’s not a masterful AI that takes over the world — that’s bullshit — it’s a world in which there are AI tools which are promised to do XYZ and that many employers have effectively bought into only to lay off full-time workers and hire them back at a reduced rate,” Hanna told Business Insider. (October 2024)
Emily named to Inaugural Time100 AI
“You can’t expect a machine-learning system to learn stuff that’s not in its training data,” [Emily] says. “Otherwise you’re expecting magic.” (September 2023)
NPR: Artificial intelligence’s thirst for electricity
“We have an existential risk right now. It’s called climate change, and AI is palpably making it worse.” Alex told NPR’s Dara Kerr for Morning Edition. (July 2024)
Factually! with Adam Conover: The Real Problem with A.I.
Is artificial intelligence a problem, or is the real problem how we’re using the term in the first place? Emily joins Adam Conover discuss why we should resist the urge to be impressed when it comes to big tech’s AI promises, and how our belief in the fantasy of A.I. could be worse than the reality. (June 2022)
Op-ed: “AI” Hurts Consumers and Workers — and Isn’t Intelligent
“The next steps are to use identified harms—to workers, to the information ecosystem and to data privacy—to plug gaps in existing laws and regulations. Meanwhile, we call on businesses not to succumb to this artificial “intelligence” hype.” Alex and Emily write for Tech Policy Press. (August 2023)
Op-ed: AI Causes Real Harm. Let’s Focus on That over the End-of-Humanity Hype
“We urge policymakers to draw on solid scholarship that investigates the harms and risks of AI, as well as the harms caused by delegating authority to automated systems, which include the disempowerment of the poor and the intensification of policing against Black and Indigenous families. Solid research in this domain—including social science and theory building—and solid policy based on that research will keep the focus on not using this technology to hurt people.” Emily and Alex write for Scientific American. (August 2023)
Recent
The Daily Zeitgeist: Down the Stupid AI Rabbithole
Emily and Alex return to ridicule “AI” and deflate new AI hype. (June 2024)
The Electorette Podcast: Are Our Fears About Artificial Intelligence Unfounded & How Should Legislators Protect Us
Emily and Alex discuss the impact of Artificial Intelligence and whether our government can protect us from its potential harms via legislation, and regulation. We also discuss the sociological harms of AI, as well as the environmental impact.
The Daily Zeitgeist: Resist The Urge To be Impressed by AI
Emily and Alex join TDZ to discuss the AI hype cycle. (February 2024)