New Books Network The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want
17 snips
Apr 13, 2026 
Emily M. Bender, a linguist who critiques claims that language models 'understand,' and Alex Hanna, a sociologist studying AI’s social harms, discuss how Big Tech shapes AI narratives. They unpack hype that hides limits, labor costs, and data colonialism. Short takes on universities under pressure, biased datasets, and grassroots strategies for resisting misleading AI claims.
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Why Language Models Seem Smart But Don’t Understand
- Language models do not understand language despite appearing to, because statistical patterning gives an illusion of understanding.
- Emily M. Bender explains her linguistics background and why models produce convincing but non-understanding outputs based on training statistics.
From Twitch Roast To Book Deal
- Alex Hanna and Emily turned online critique into a community project by live-streaming a comedic read-through of a flawed AI paper.
- Their Twitch series evolved into the Mystery AI Hive Theater 3000 podcast and later led to a book offer.
Faculty Organize To Protect Teaching Practices
- Faculty should organize to protect educational relationships and resist administrative pressure to simply accept AI as a 'workplace prep' requirement.
- Emily M. Bender urges collective faculty action to preserve mentorship, critical thinking, and disciplinary training.
