
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.
| Publishes | Twice monthly | Episodes | 87 | Founded | 3 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | TechnologyNewsTech News | |||

In the past year, tech companies have laid off thousands of employees. But when CEOs blame "AI innovation," they're redirecting attention from something much more predictable: job discrimination and gig-ification. Emily and Alex examine some narrativ... more
In the wake of OpenAI's announcement that its products caused a "cyber incident," Sam Altman is now claiming that we're already in the Singularity. And some media outlets are only too happy to help him advance that narrative! Alex and Emily tear up t... more
Lately, a new framework has been creeping into AI boosterism: "harm reduction," or "responsible use." Education technology scholar dr. sava saheli singh joins Alex and Emily to unpack narratives around automation inevitability in the classroom. Spoil... more
AI boosters want to hand off emergency services to the bullshit generators. And horrifyingly, some medical professionals want to help them! Join Emily and Alex for a deep dive on the latest automated horrors threatening our collective health and safe... more
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I was genuinely interested in an AI skeptic podcast in today’s naive AI optimist world. There were some genuinely interesting points brought up, but the hosts repeatedly defaulted to dumb slurwords and an unsufferable cynicism, basically reducing nuance of the topics to zero, echoing social media armchair arguments: “AI = BAD!1!1!1!” I was expecting a lot more nuance and critical thinking from academics. Unlistenable.
If you want to be taken seriously, take the topic seriously and skip the cheap... more
If you don’t get it- you might just be an AI 😵💫
Came here because of the Nonzero interview, which I enjoyed. Robert Wright pushed the cohosts for specific information and they did well. Left to their own devices, they fill their hour with snark and little else. Present information please! I’d love to know more about why AI is less impressive than it seems but what I’m getting from this is reading a Time article and a snarky response of “doubtful.”
Finally, a corner of the Internet where I don't have to pretend that a data center can spontaneously attain consciousness by feeding Unicode through a linear algebra function. Thank you, Alex and Emily!
Never made it through a full episode. Last episode was a major miss — you should probably have actual coders criticize vibe coding.
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The show routinely critiques AI hype through a critical, research-informed lens, pairing linguistics and social science perspectives with expert guests. Episodes dissect productivity claims, governance, labor, data labor, ethics, and the political economy of AI, often challenging corporate narratives and media framing. Notable strengths include rigorous analysis of real-world implications—from data-center infrastructure to education and publishing—and a sharp, often humorous critique that aims to separate marketing from measurable impact. A potential listener will find a thoughtful, evidence-driven stance that appeals to skeptics and policy-forward audiences, and may appreciate guests who bring empirical or ethnographic insight to AI govern... more
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Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 launched 3 years ago and published 87 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Recent guests on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 include:
1. Nathalie Maréchal
2. Carmen Maria Machado
3. Niamh McIntyre
4. Maia Woluchem
5. Livia Garofalo
6. Adam Becker
7. Naomi Klein
8. Sophie Song
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