Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 477.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2025-04-23 22:14:24+00:00
From: Katherine D. Harris <katherine.harris@sjsu.edu>
Subject: Event (5/16): The AI Con, A Conversation with the Authors (hybrid)
Dear Friends, we invite you to join SJSU's H&A in Action in person or
online for one more event this semester on artificial intelligence.
Registration Required <https://forms.gle/BjqGKVpdVumPzFZt5> for both
in-person and virtual attendance
May 16 @ 2pm PST
Join us at the San Jose State University Digital Humanities Center
<https://library.sjsu.edu/digitalhumanities> for coffee and the South Bay
book launch of The AI Con <https://thecon.ai/> with Dr. Emily M. Bender
and Dr. Alex Hanna in conversation with an SJSU faculty member
<https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/index.php>. Grab your copy on sale
before and after the event from the Spartan Bookstore table. Win a copy of
the book at the on-site raffle and stay for an author book signing. Free
and open to the public.
Register <https://forms.gle/BjqGKVpdVumPzFZt5> for either in-person
attendance (70 max) or virtual attendance on Zoom (300 max).
What makes this conversation important
In THE AI CON: How To Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want
<https://thecon.ai/> (Harper), Dr. Emily M. Bender, Professor of
Linguistics at the University of Washington, and Dr. Alex Hanna, Director
of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute, meticulously break
down and reconstruct how we think about so-called artificial intelligence
and, in doing so, upend the overblown claims of AI hype. With expertise
drawn from years of scholarship, Bender and Hanna offer keen perspective
and pointed humor as they explain how these technologies actually work.
They go on to investigate attempts to use these tools in government, law,
healthcare, journalism, art and beyond—and the damage being done amid the
broken promises of the technology.
Bender and Hanna’s expertise stands out among the critics of AI and its
attendant hype. Bender, a linguist, was among the inaugural Time AI 100 and
her explosive Stochastic Parrots paper (ACM 2021), sounded the alarm about
the risks and dangers of the gigantic large language models that are the
core of chatbots and similar technologies. Hanna, a sociologist by
training, looks at how the data that fuels computational technologies
exacerbates racial, gender, and class inequality. Her resignation from Google’s
Ethical AI team generated widespread attention for its sharp critiques of
corporate racism.
About the Book
THE AI CON: How To Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want
<https://thecon.ai/>: A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as
artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold
under this banner, and why it’s crucial to recognize the many ways in which
AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the
world.
Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Have big tech
scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it
going to put authors, artists, and others out of business? Are we about to
enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything?
The answer to these questions, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist
Alex Hanna make clear, are “no,” “they wish,” “LOL,” and “definitely not.”
This kind of thinking is a symptom of a phenomenon known as “AI hype”. Hype
looks and smells fishy: It twists words and helps the rich get richer by
justifying data theft, motivating surveillance capitalism, and devaluing
human creativity in order to replace meaningful work with jobs that treat
people like machines. In The AI Con, Bender and Hanna offer a sharp,
witty, and wide-ranging take-down of AI hype across its many forms.
Bender and Hanna show you how to spot AI hype, how to deconstruct it, and
how to expose the power grabs it aims to hide. Armed with these tools, you
will be prepared to push back against AI hype at work, as a consumer in the
marketplace, as a skeptical newsreader, and as a citizen holding
policymakers to account. Together, Bender and Hanna expose AI hype for what
it is: a mask for Big Tech’s drive for profit, with little concern for who
it affects.
Speakers
Dr. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics at the University of
Washington where she is also the Faculty Director of the Computational
Linguistics Master of Science program and affiliate faculty in the School
of Computer Science and Engineering and the Information School. In 2023,
she was included in the inaugural Time 100 list of the most influential
people in AI. She is frequently consulted by policymakers, from municipal
officials to the federal government to the United Nations, for insight into
how to understand so-called AI technologies. (photo: Susan Doupé)
Dr. Alex Hanna is Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research
Institute (DAIR) and a Lecturer in the School of Information at the
University of California Berkeley. She is an outspoken critic of the tech
industry, a proponent of community-based uses of technology, and a highly
sought-after speaker and expert who has been featured across the media,
including articles in the Washington Post, Financial Times, The Atlantic,
and Time. (photo: Will Toft)
Resources
- Listen to the podcast! Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000
<https://www.dair-institute.org/maiht3k/>
- Subscribe to the newsletter, Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000: The
Newsletter <https://buttondown.com/maiht3k>
- Check out the Distributed AI Research Institute
<https://www.dair-institute.org/> (DAIR)
Partners
This event is an initiative sponsored by H&A in Action
<https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/engage/public-programming-opportunities/quickbites.php>
at San José State University (a California State University campus) to bring
you conversations about the most urgent news of the moment as we launch our
new Advanced Institute for Ethical Technologies
<https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/engage/ai-et.php>. Thanks to our
partners for supporting this event: Cross-Campus Interdisciplinary
Responsible Computing Learning Experience (CIRCLE
<https://ischool.sjsu.edu/news/circle-project-sjsu-chosen-mozilla-award-winner>)
Responsible Computing Club
<https://foundation.mozilla.org/en/blog/announcing-the-responsible-computing-
club-at-san-jos%C3%A9-state-university/>,
and the Masters of Records and Archive Administration
<https://ischool.sjsu.edu/master-archives-and-records-administration>
program.
To join us in person, please see the parking and transportation options:
- Check out the directions to main campus
<https://www.sjsu.edu/map/directions/main-campus.php>
- SJSU garages (using ParkMobile <https://parkmobile.io/> app) are open to
anyone (see our Parking Solutions
<https://www.sjsu.edu/parking/maps/index.php>) for a nominal amount ($5
on weekends for all day). Please be sure to pay before you leave the
parking garage using either ParkMobile app or one of the kiosks in the
garage. Street parking is also available via metered parkin
- See our Transportation Solutions
<https://www.sjsu.edu/as/departments/transportation-solutions/index.php>
for commuting information
See you soon!
Kathy
-----
Dr. Katherine D. Harris (she/her)
Director, Public Programming <https://www.sjsu.edu/ha-in-action/index.php>,
College of Humanities & the Arts
Professor of Literature & Digital Humanities
San Jose State University
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