It's Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000's third birthday! To celebrate, Emily and Alex respond to listener questions about the show, and reflect on the past and future of AI hype. Topics range from how to talk to your kids about LLMs, to what the MAIHT3k birthday cake looks like.Artifacts referenced:AI and the Everything in the Whole Wide World BenchmarkData and its (dis)contentsStochastic Parrots DayDr. Casey Fiesler on TikTokDr. Nicole Holliday on TikTokAlex and Emily’s media appearances about The AI ConEmily and Alex on The Data Fix with Dr. Mél HoganEmily’s interview with Dr. Carl RhodesStinking Rich: The Four Myths of the Good BillionaireOctober 21st event for The AI ConFAccT AI Workers’ Inquiry PanelEmily’s presentation at UNESCO Digital Learning Week — Paper version on pp.41-45 hereA Teen Was Suicidal. ChatGPT Was the Friend He Confided In.Fresh AI Hell:Meet the Robot Using AI to Ink Your Next TattooMedicare Will Start Paying AI Companies a Share of Any Claims They Automatically RejectBluesky post about Taco Bell AI drive-throughCan AI doulas improve maternal health?Countries are struggling to meet the rising energy demands of data centersBluesky post about Business InsiderOpenAI has reportedly misjudged its cash burn byCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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The Robo-Therapist Will See You Now (with Maggie Harrison Dupré), 2025.08.18
Talking to chatbots can have serious mental health consequences — fueling delusions and leading users away from consensus reality. Futurism writer Maggie Harrison Dupré joins us to unpack the hype around AI therapists, based on her groundbreaking reporting on "AI psychosis."Maggie Harrison Dupré is an award-winning tech journalist at Futurism who’s reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping media, information, humans, and our real and digital lives.References:How AI Is Expanding The Mental Health MarketHe Had Dangerous Delusions. ChatGPT Admitted It Made Them Worse.OpenAI: What we're optimizing ChatGPT forAlso referenced:Gov Pritzker Signs Legislation Prohibiting AI Therapy in IllinoisPeople Are Becoming Obsessed with ChatGPT and Spiraling Into Severe DelusionsStanford: New study warns of risks in AI mental health toolsFresh AI Hell:Bluesky post about DEI by chatbotHow AI is being used by police departments to help draft reportsPolitico's recent AI experiments shouldn’t be subject to newsroom editorial standards, its editors testifyUK Asks People to Delete Emails In Order to Save Water During DroughtSam Altman says 'yes,' AI is in a bubbleGoogle's AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam.Mastodon post about Dieter Roth's LiteraturwürsteCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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Winning the Race to Hell (with Sarah Myers West and Kate Brennan), 2025.08.04
Trump’s “AI Action Plan” is his latest attempt to turn AI hype into official national policy. Kate Brennan and Sarah Myers West, of the AI Now Institute, join us to dig through this pile of deregulatory gifts to Big Tech.Dr. Sarah Myers West is co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, and a former senior advisor on AI for the FTC.Dr. Kate Brennan is associate director of the AI Now Institute, where she spearheads their policy work, informed by a doctorate in law and years of experience in the tech industry.References:Winning the Race: America’s AI Action PlanAlso referenced:People’s AI Action PlanFresh AI Hell:Medical Pros Risk Malpractice Suits by Avoiding AI InnovationGoogle search’s next cash cowAI Is Coming for the Consultants. Inside McKinsey, ‘This Is Existential.’The rise of AI tools that write about you when you dieAmazon’s Alexa Fund Invests in ‘Netflix of AI’ Start-Up Fable, Which Launches Showrunner: A Tool for User-Directed TV ShowsIn federal lawsuit, students allege Lawrence school district’s AI surveillance tool violates their rightsCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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Vibe Coding: Four Security Nightmares in a Trenchcoat (with Susanna Cox), 2025.07.21
After many months of making fun of the term "vibe coding," Emily and Alex tackle the LLMs-as-coders fad head-on, with help from security researcher Susanna Cox. From one person's screed that proclaims everyone not on the vibe-coding bandwagon to be crazy, to the grandiose claim that LLMs could be the "opposable thumb" of the entire world of computing. It's big yikes, all around.Susanna Cox is a consulting AI security researcher and a member of the core author team at OWASP AI Exchange.References:My AI Skeptic Friends Are All NutsLLMs: the opposable thumb of computingA disastrous day in the life of a vibe coderAlso referenced:Signal president Meredith Whittaker on the fundamental security problem with agentic AIThe "S" in MCP stands for securityOur Opinions Are Correct: The Turing Test is BullshitAI Hell:Sam Altman: The (gentle) singularity is already hereWhat do the boosters think reading is, anyway?Meta's climate model made up fake CO2 removal ideasOngoing lawsuit means all your ChatGPT conversations will be saved"Dance like you're part of the training set"Some Guy tries to mansplain Signal to…Signal's presidentWSJ headline claims ChatGPT "self-reflection", gets dunkedCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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Et Tu, American Federation of Teachers? (with Charles Logan), 2025.07.14
The chatbot boosters are looking for educators to play brand ambassador for more intrusion of so-called "AI" into the classroom. From the American Federation of Teachers' new partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft for a "national academy for AI instruction" to yet more articles extolling the alleged time-saving and future-proofing virtues of LLM-powered ed tech, the hype can feel relentless. Charles Logan joins Alex and Emily for a critical look at the latest propaganda for "AI" in the classroom.Charles Logan is a former English teacher and current PhD candidate in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University.References:Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping itAFT to Launch National Academy for AI Instruction with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and United Federation of Teachers Also referenced:Tressie McMillan Cottom on "predatory inclusion"Daniel Greene's "The Access Doctrine"The Group Chats that Changed AmericaFresh AI Hell:Missouri AG investigating why chatbots don’t like TrumpGig workers calling ICE on other undocumented gig workersTech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEIUSF makes a PTSD detector...trained on childrenPeople falling in love with Replika chatbotsElon Musk thirsting over xAI anime constructCheck out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Alex Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex Twitter: @alexhanna Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this podcast, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist 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.
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