The AI Con

The blizzard of excitement, misinformation and pure hype around AI has driven many of us to want an honest guide to both its promises and its limitations as well as its bizarre history. If, like me, you’re one of those many, you need to read this book. It’s clear, objective and comprehensible. It’s essential reading – Brian EnoThe AI Con takes the thunder out of the dark cloud in our technological future. I am so grateful for the reality check, in Emily’s and Alex’s inimitable style. A must-read for those who don’t want to believe the hype – Aleks Krotoski, presenter of The Digital HumanA powerful antidote to the AI hype that dominates tech writing today. The authors show that the development of modern labour saving technologies is not neutral. Instead, these technologies will serve to deepen existing inequalities, and further ‘enshittify’ life and work for the vast majority of people – Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture CapitalismA must-read. Drs. Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender cut through the dizzying hype to provide the clearest picture yet of what AI is, what it is not, and why none of us need to accept it being shoved down our throats – Timnit Gebru, Founder and Executive Director at The Distributed AI Research InstituteA book to inoculate your mind against Big Tech’s AI utopian hype and the resulting dystopian dread – Yanis VaroufakisArtificial intelligence is going to reshape our economy and society. And we’d all better get used to it, right? Wrong, say the authors of this incredible book. This is a truly eye-opening book that will be an indispensable ‘field manual’ for those who want to fight for a more humane economy and a better society – Ha-Joon Chang, author of Economics: The User’s Guide and Edible EconomicsA fascinating and thought-provoking analysis of one of the most charged debates in the world – Johann Hari, author of Stolen FocusBender and Hanna write with absolute authority and incredible wit and verve. Come for the piercing observations; leave with the tools to slice your way through the absurdist narratives that prop up the AI industry and to hold it accountable – Karen Hao, author of Empire of AIA powerful and timely deep dive into what the AI hype cycle is REALLY about, why it’s bound to crash, and what we can all do to protect ourselves from it. An absolute must-read! – Karla Ortiz, artist and artist activistWith irreverence and razor-sharp analysis, Bender and Hanna show how tech giants are using AI as a cover for their real agenda. This isn’t just about debunking myths – it’s about reclaiming control over the future – Ruha Benjamin, author of Viral Justice

Emily M. Bender

Dr Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington. Her work, including the touchstone ‘Stochastic Parrots’ paper, brings a linguistic perspective to how large language models work and why the illusion they produce is so compelling. In 2023 she was included in the inaugural TIME100 AI list of most influential people in AI.

Alex Hanna

Dr Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a former senior research scientist on Google’s Ethical AI team. She is an outspoken critic of the tech industry and a proponent of community-based uses of technology.