It's been six months since our last all-Hell episode! In honor of Halloween season, we take a long journey into the very scary Fresh AI Hell mines. Topics include terrifying uses of AI in education, scientific research, and politics — plus, some delicious palate cleansers along the way.

AI bubble: bigger than dot-com bust?

No one wants to pay for ChatGPT

Meta lays off 600 from AI unit

AI data centers: an even bigger disaster than we thought

Public universities anticipate data center-driven power outages

Chaser: Deloitte has to pay back Albanese government after using AI in report

"AI" schools are "dead classrooms"

Fake sources in "ethical AI" education report

Parents letting kids play with AI

Startup sells 'synthetic influencers'

AI-powered textbooks fail to make the grade

Chaser: "High-reliability" AI slop

Nature offers "AI-powered research assistant"

AI bots wrote all papers at this conference

"AI" reviewing at AAAI

AI medical tools downplay symptoms in women and POC

Therapists are secretly using ChatGPT

Chaser: Microsoft blocks Israel's use of its technology

German initiative uses "AI" for voter education

Police gunshot detection mics will listen for human voices

SF's AI chatbot for RV dwellers

Cuomo campaign posts racist AI slop

DHS Ordered OpenAI To Share User Data

Chaser: LA County moves to limit license plate tracking

A new form of eugenics

"AI Superintelligence" prohibition letter

Emad Mostaque's LLM blurbs

Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery

Chaser: The hot new trend in marketing: hating on AI

Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

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Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

So-called AI tools are increasingly infiltrating newsrooms, particularly when it comes to data analysis. DAIR writer-in-residence Decca Muldowney joins us to discuss the need for journalists to distinguish between "AI" and reliable, verifiable research methods.

Decca Muldowney is a journalist and writer who was our fact checker for The AI Con. She's also a writer-in-residence and web editor at the Distributed AI Research Institute.

References:

• An early AI pioneer shares how the "vibe coding" revolution could reshape data journalism
• America's top companies keep talking about AI — but can't explain the upsides
• Analysis: 96.2% of Climate News Stories Don't Cover Animal Agriculture as a Pollution Source

Fresh AI Hell:

• Teen Sues Maker of Fake-Nude Software
• ChatGPT's Hail Mary: Chatbots You Can Fuck
• GitLaw announces "Vibe Lawyering"
• Salesforce Offers Its Services to Boost Trump’s Immigration Force
• Towns are saying no to AI data centers. One got sued over it.
• Rent a Cyber Friend will pay you to talk to strangers online
• The Wire's David Simon is over it

Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.

Powerful AI boosters claim to love science fiction novels, but why do they always seem to take the wrong lessons from them? Reporter and writer Reo Eveleth joins us to discuss the ways tech leaders misuse storytelling, and how we can avoid their visions to imagine better futures.

Reo Eveleth is a reporter, writer, and co-founder of COYOTE Media Collective. They created the hit independent show Flash Forward, which they also turned into a book of the same name. Reo’s work has been nominated for a Peabody, an Emmy, and an Eisner Award.

References:

• Tech Billionaires Need to Stop Trying to Make the Science Fiction They Grew Up on Real
• How New Science Fiction Could Help Us Improve AI

Also Referenced:

• Statement from the listed authors of Stochastic Parrots on the “AI pause” letter

Fresh AI Hell:

• Stop Worrying About AI’s Return on Investment
• The most radical act of feminism? Using AI
• Leader of Albania Pelted With Trash for Appointing AI-Powered Minister to Cabinet
• The Human Cost of Every ChatGPT Query: Inside the Cobalt Mines That Power AI
• Altman on "AGI" and quantum gravity
• OK Go - Impulse Purchase

Correction: We misstated Lee Ostertag's name during the livestream for this episode. We apologize for the error!

Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.