257 - Guests: Emily Bender & Alex Hanna, Authors, part 1

257 - Guests: Emily Bender & Alex Hanna, Authors, part 1

Author: aiandyou May 19, 2025 Duration: 34:59
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . When people take a unipolar position that AI is going to be wonderful, or terrible, or inconsequential, they end up painting themselves into a corner where that’s the only story they can allow themselves to express, and that obscures the truth. So for us to do our due diligence in exploring the dimensions of AI, today I am talking with Drs. Emily Bender and Alex Hanna, authors of the upcoming book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want, and also co-hosts of the live podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000. Emily is well known for coining the term “stochastic parrots” in a 2021 paper as a label for generative AI. She is a linguistics professor and director of the Computational Linguistics Laboratory at the University of Washington and was among the inaugural Time AI 100. Alex is a sociologist who looks at how the data that fuels AI technologies exacerbates racial, gender, and class inequality. She is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies. In part 1, we talk about their intentions with the book, cycles of hype and the effects of hype, the dangers of uncritical use of LLMs, “Slow Science”, and academic institutional culture.  All this plus our usual look at today's AI headlines. Transcript and URLs referenced at HumanCusp Blog.        

The conversation around artificial intelligence is often filled with either breathless hype or dire warnings, leaving little room for grounded, practical understanding. Artificial Intelligence and You cuts through that noise. This isn't a lecture series from a distant ivory tower; it's a guided exploration meant for anyone curious about how these tools are reshaping the everyday. Each episode takes a focused look at a single facet of AI, from the algorithms curating your social media feed to the software that might change how you work. We break down complex concepts into clear, relatable terms, asking the questions that actually matter for your decisions and your future. You'll hear straightforward explanations of how different AI systems function, alongside thoughtful discussions about their real-world implications-the ethical dilemmas, the economic shifts, and the personal impacts that rarely make the headlines. The goal of this podcast is to replace confusion with clarity and anxiety with informed perspective. Whether you're a professional navigating new tools, a student planning a career, or simply a person living in an increasingly digital world, these conversations provide the context you need to form your own opinions. Join us as we move beyond the abstract to examine what AI genuinely means for your life, your community, and the kind of world we're all building together, one line of code at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Artificial Intelligence and You
Podcast Episodes
234 - Guest: Dwayne Wood, Professor of Education, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:20
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . It's tough enough being a teacher in the AI age, so can you imagine what it's like training the teachers themselves? That's what Dwayne Wood, Associate Professor at Natio…
233 - Guest: J. Craig Wheeler, Astrophysics Professor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:25
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . We are going big on the show this time, with astrophysicist J. Craig Wheeler, Samuel T. and Fern Yanagisawa Regents Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, at the University of…
232 - Special Panel: Educators on AI, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:22
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . We're extending the conversation about AI in education to the front lines in this episode, with four very experienced and credentialed educators discussing their experien…
231 - Special Panel: Educators on AI, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:13
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . We're extending the conversation about AI in education to the front lines in this episode, with four very experienced and credentialed educators discussing their experien…
230 - Guest: Caroline Bassett, Digital Humanities Professor, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:18
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . Digital Humanities sounds at first blush like a contradiction of terms: the intersection of our digital, technology-centric culture, and the humanities, like arts, litera…
229 - Guest: Caroline Bassett, Digital Humanities Professor, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:51
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . Digital Humanities sounds at first blush like a contradiction of terms: the intersection of our digital, technology-centric culture, and the humanities, like arts, litera…
228 - Guest: John Laird, Cognitive architect, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:52
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . Cognitive architecture deals in models of how the brain - or AI - does its magic. A challenging discipline to say the least, and we are lucky to have a foremost cognitive…
227 - Guest: John Laird, Cognitive architect, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:03
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . Cognitive architecture deals in models of how the brain - or AI - does its magic. A challenging discipline to say the least, and we are lucky to have a foremost cognitive…
226 - Guest: Sir Anthony Seldon, Historian, Author, Educator [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 22:39
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . My guest today founded the United Kingdom's AI in Education initiative, but Sir Anthony Seldon is known to millions more there as the author of books about prime minister…
225 - Guest: Ravin Jesuthasan, Bestselling Futurist, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:00
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . How is work shifting from jobs to skills, and how do companies and individuals adapt to this AI-fueled change? I talk with Ravin Jesuthasan, co-author with Tanuj Kapilash…