Tech Conference Used AI to Fake Female Speakers to Look Diverse – BEST OF TANGOTI

Tech Conference Used AI to Fake Female Speakers to Look Diverse – BEST OF TANGOTI

Author: iHeartPodcasts January 30, 2026 Duration: 52:40

The tech conference Devternity was canceled (not fake canceled, literally canceled) after allegations that the founder has been inventing fake women and catfishing on Instagram for years.

Bridget does a deep dive to get to the bottom of it, and what it says about default, dismissive attitudes about marginalized people in tech. There were real women the whole time! Why not invite one of them?!

A Tech Conference Listed Fake Speakers for Years: I Accidentally Noticed: https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/devternity-fake-speakers/

Male Tech Conference Founder Is Behind Popular Woman Coding Influencer Account: https://www.404media.co/coding-unicorn-instagram-julia-kirsina-devternity/

Tech Conference Collapses After Organizer Admits to Making Fake ‘Auto-Generated’ Female Speaker: https://www.404media.co/devternity-fake-speakers-eduard-sizovs/

Eduards Sizovs’s full response thread: https://twitter.com/eduardsi/status/1728422017417032140

Here’s a collection of Julia through the years: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Fds4DgzU_Yem577sfGykauuNkltIq3ykZdZUd1EAUE/edit?usp=sharing

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


You might have heard the old, tired joke that gives There Are No Girls on the Internet its name, but host Bridget Todd isn't laughing. Instead, she's building a vital archive, one conversation at a time. This iHeartPodcasts production digs into the real, human stories of how marginalized voices-far from being newcomers-have actually been the essential architects of our digital world from day one. Each episode moves beyond the headlines to chronicle the personal experiences, subcultures, and quiet revolutions that happen online, giving texture to the platforms and trends we often take for granted. You'll hear from the people whose creativity, labor, and community have fundamentally shaped technology, culture, and society, even when their contributions were overlooked or outright stolen. This isn't just a history lesson; it's an active reclamation. The podcast serves as an ongoing monument to the countless identities that make the internet a dynamic, messy, and profoundly human space. Tune in for narratives that are insightful, often surprising, and absolutely necessary for understanding where we've been and where we're headed next in our connected lives.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

There Are No Girls on the Internet
Podcast Episodes
The Big AI Podcast Rejection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:21
Happy New Year! We're starting 2026 on a hopeful note. We all know that AI is threatening human labor across a bunch of industries, especially creative work. This episode is about an encouraging win for humans – a case w…
Women Use AI Less Than Men at Work. Is That a Bad Thing? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:46
There’s a gender gap when it comes to who is using AI at work. Are women being left behind? The research isn’t so cut and dry. Bridget takes a look at what we know and what it means with Samantha and Anney from Stuff Mom…
Why We’re Fighting About Self Checkout – Best of TANGOTI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:24
Bridget and Mike had conflicting and surprisingly strong feelings about self checkout machines. And it turns out, listeners do, too! We got more emails about this seemingly low stakes topic than any other. Why did this t…