Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

Happy US book release day to me, my amazing co-author @alex and everyone else who can now open up their own copy!!

All the details on ordering, events, and news coverage at https://thecon.ai

https://dair-community.social/deck/@emilymbender/114365240078380868

Absolute highlight of this trip: **finally** meeting @alex in person. Since 2020, we have:

1. Co-authored multiple peer-reviewed papers
2. Co-authored op-eds
3. Co-hosted a podcast now at 53 episodes
4. Written A WHOLE BOOK (thecon.ai)

And now we've finally met :)

Medien: 1

I am super excited to share that my forthcoming book with @alex, THE AI CON: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want, is now available for pre-order!

All the details here: https://thecon.ai/

No, ChatGPT won't help in the classroom, won't save teachers time, and doesn't represent a set of skills students need to learn.

On OpenAI's latest nonsense:

https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/chatgpt-has-no-place-in-the-classroom/

As OpenAI and Meta introduce LLM-driven searchbots, I'd like to once again remind people that neither LLMs nor chatbots are good technology for information access.

A thread, with links:

Chirag Shah and I wrote about this in two academic papers:
2022: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3498366.3505816
2024: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3649468

We also have an op-ed from Dec 2022:
https://iai.tv/articles/all-knowing-machines-are-a-fantasy-auid-2334

>>

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 Episode 37: Chatbots Aren't Nurses

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/15517978-episode-37-chatbots-aren-t-nurses-feat-michelle-mahon-july-22-2024

In which National Nurses United's Michelle Mahon joined me and @alex to explore the enormous gulf between synthetic text extruding machines (with friendly synthetic faces) and actual nursing practice.

Thx to Christie Taylor for production!

The reporting in MIT Tech Review is such a mixed bag. Some good critical work, some "look shiny!" tech reporting that at best quotes a few "skeptics" towards the bottom before returning to boosterism. This one is an example of that:

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/08/01/1095551/end-of-life-decisions-ai-help/

This is the same horrific idea that I wrote about in my MAIHT3k newsletter post on Monday, but @techreview goes for the "ooh shiny!" angle instead:

https://buttondown.email/maiht3k/archive/medical-science-shouldnt-platform-automating-end/

>>

This is tomorrow!

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It's Agurketid for Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 -- @alex and I will be taking on a very silly long-form interview with a CEO whose fantasies about AI have really gotten the better of him.

Join us Monday July 29, 1pm Pacific
twitch.tv/dair_institute

Always hilarious to read ad copy where the information selling service admits to selling a system that just makes shit up.

Medien: 1

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 Episode 36: About That 'Dangerous Capabilities' Fanfiction

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/15438320-episode-36-about-that-dangerous-capabilities-fanfiction-feat-ali-alkhatib-june-24-2024

… in which @ali and I explore a paper-shaped object released by DeepMind and discern the political project behind the pseudoscience.

Thx to Christie Taylor for production!