A refreshingly contrarian take on AI and the clouds of hyperbole surrounding it.
— Kirkus Reviews
With their expansive, interdisciplinary expertise, Bender and Hanna write with absolute authority and unapologetic clarity about all the ways AI companies wield and weaponize language – in their marketing hype and as training data for their monstrous AI models – to create a less rigorous, less verifiable, more unequal, and more B.S.-filled world. Despite the depressing nature of their subject, Bender and Hanna narrate it with incredible wit and verve – and oh do they make you laugh. Come for the piercing observations; leave with the tools to slice your way through the absurdist narratives that prop up the AI industry and to hold it accountable.
— Karen Hao, award-winning AI reporter and author of Empire of AI
A powerful and timely deep dive into what the AI hype cycle is REALLY about, why it’s bound to crash, and what we can all do to protect ourselves from it. An absolute must-read!
— Karla Ortiz, artist and artist activist
The AI Con is a must-read…Drs. Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender cut through the dizzying hype to provide the clearest picture yet of what AI is, what it is not, and why none of us need to accept it being shoved down our throats. Their expertise and independence from the tech companies claiming to have created what the CEO of OpenAI calls ‘magic intelligence in the sky,’ makes them two of the few voices writing on this topic motivated by the public’s interests rather than their personal gains.
— Timnit Gebru, Founder and Executive Director at The Distributed AI Research Institute
In The AI Con, Bender and Hanna deliver a hard-hitting, no-nonsense takedown of the so-called ‘artificial intelligence revolution.’ Far from the sci-fi fantasy of machines thinking for themselves, this book shows how tech giants are using AI as a cover for their real agenda: data exploitation, surveillance, and a race to replace human labor with soulless automation. With irreverence and razor-sharp analysis, Bender and Hanna dismantle the hype and arm readers with the tools to see through the corporate doublespeak. This isn’t just about debunking myths—it’s about reclaiming control over the future that’s being sold to us.
— Ruha Benjamin, author of Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want
If you’ve been confused and bedazzled by all the chatter about AI, this book will help you make sense of all of it. Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna break down all the science-fictional flights of fancy, and painstakingly reveal the troubling reality that lies beneath. The AI Con is required reading for anyone who wants to survive the twenty-first century.
— Charlie Jane Anders, author of Victories Greater Than Death
In this AI hype era, Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna are here to deliver the well-informed debunking our algorithm overlords deserve.
— Annalee Newitz, bestselling author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind and Autonomous
A book to inoculate your mind against Big Tech’s AI utopian hype and the resulting dystopian dread.
— Yanis Varoufakis, author of Technofeudalism
A fascinating and thought-provoking analysis of one of the most charged debates in the world.
— Johann Hari, author of Stolen Focus
Artificial intelligence is going to reshape our economy and society. And we’d all better get used to it, right? Wrong, say the authors of this incredible book. By explaining clearly how there is no real ‘intelligence’ in artificial intelligence (AI), the authors teach us how to see through hype about AI – whether positive or negative. By telling us that AI is fundamentally ‘artificial’ and thus there is nothing inevitable about it, they show how we can shape the future of technology in a way that serves humanity rather than a narrow group of capitalists who are trying to shape it for their own exclusive benefits. This is a truly eye-opening book that will be an indispensable ‘field manual’ for those who want to fight for a more humane economy and a better society.
— Ha-Joon Chang, SOAS University of London, author of Economics: The User’s Guide and Edible Economics
The AI Con takes the thunder out of the dark cloud in our technological future. I am so grateful for the reality check, in Emily’s and Alex’s inimitable style. A must read for those who don’t want to believe the hype.
— Aleks Krotoski, presenter of The Digital Human
A powerful antidote to the AI hype that dominates tech writing today. The authors show that the development of modern labour saving technologies is not neutral. Instead, these technologies will serve to deepen existing inequalities, and further “enshittify” life and work for the vast majority of people.
— Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism