258 - Guests: Emily Bender & Alex Hanna, Authors, part 2

258 - Guests: Emily Bender & Alex Hanna, Authors, part 2

Author: aiandyou May 26, 2025 Duration: 33:49
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . 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 2, we talk about the dangers of uncritical naming, anthropomorphizing, Luddites and bespoke crafting, the effects of synthetic content on interpersonal communications, capitalism, and collective action strategies.  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
295 - Guest: Maya Ackerman, Creative AI Pioneer, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:27
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . One of the great wounds people are experiencing around AI is in creativity. Look at the writers’ and actors’ strikes, for example. Here to talk about this very sensitive…
294 - Special: The Future of Work [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:20
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . The fear, uncertainty, and doubt around the future of work has reached epidemic proportions. We'll attempt to shed some light and provide some relief with data, questions…
291 - Guest: Jeff Riley, Former Commissioner of Education, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:11
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What’s going on with getting AI education into America’s classrooms? We're finding out from Jeff Riley, former Commissioner of Education for the state of Massachusetts an…
290 - Guest: Jeff Riley, Former Commissioner of Education, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:35
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What’s going on with getting AI education into America’s classrooms? We’re going to find out from Jeff Riley, former Commissioner of Education for the state of Massachuse…
289 - Special Panel: AI 2025 Retrospective/2026 Predictions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:06
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . It's that time to visit the - ghosts? - of AI past, present, and future, in our traditional retrospective/predictions episode. Forming the panel are Dan Turchin, CEO of P…
288 - Guest: Suzanne Gildert, Quantum Entrepreneur, part 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:28
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What is consciousness? That’s a profound question that many would say is unanswerable. And how could you make artificial consciousness? That’s a more profound question th…
287 - Guest: Suzanne Gildert, Quantum Entrepreneur, part 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:45
This and all episodes at: https://aiandyou.net/ . What is consciousness? That’s a profound question that many would say is unanswerable. And how could you make artificial consciousness? That’s a more profound question th…