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 the AI boosters' latest claims of mathy maths combusting into consciousness.

References:

• Business Insider: "Sam Altman says we are in the singularity: 'This is the moment'"
  • Also referenced: Altman on the Relentless podcast
• Wall Street Journal: "How the Futuristic Hack by Rogue OpenAI Models Unfolded"
  • Also referenced: OpenAI and Anthropic press releases
• MacAskill op ed in the Guardian: "Could AI be conscious?"
  • Also referenced: Emily's Bluesky thread

Fresh AI Hell:

• Google kills AlphaFold
• "Former executive accuses Mayo of cutting corners on AI research"
• Amazon wants to use Twitch streams to train gen AI
• "Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, lawsuit claims"
• Meta contaminates water in Cheyenne
• "Humanoid robot teaching assistant"
• AI companies buying and destroying antique books
• Palate cleanser: Mathematicians clap back

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

Find our book The AI Con here, and MAIHT3k merch here.

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.

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. Spoiler alert: they're not actually "reducing harm" to students at all!

An interdisciplinary scholar and filmmaker, sava is currently working on a research project examining secondary school teachers’ experiences of genAI use, and making a film about the future of AI in education. Her speculative short film series on the harms of surveillance technology is available at screeningsurveillance.com.

References:

• "Harm Reduction: A Strategy to Mitigate the Risks of AI"
  • Also referenced: MAIHT3k newsletter, "How to talk about 'AI' without adding to the anthropomorphization"
• UNESCO "AI competency framework for students"

Fresh AI Hell:

• Hallucination rebranded as "critical confabulation"
• "Pennsylvania Board of Medicine Alleges Unlawful Practice of Medicine by an AI Chatbot"
• "Google's smart home AI will be able to use clothing to identify people"
• "Medicare AI program made them suffer in pain. Now they want answers"
• "Why do these Castro gay bars have TSA-style face scanners?"
• "County With 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to 'Conserve Electricity'"
• Palate cleanser: "Florida AG sues OpenAI, seeks to hold CEO Altman personally liable"
• Palate cleanser: "Norway imposes near ban on AI in elementary school"

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

Find our book The AI Con here, and MAIHT3k merch here.

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.

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 safety.

References:

• "The role of large language models in emergency care: a comprehensive benchmarking study"
• "Seattle uses AI to help triage, divert 911 medical calls"
  • Also referenced: MAIHT3k newsletter on Seattle's 911 automation
• "FDA approves early warning system for sepsis"
  • Also referenced: Underlying research paper on this system

Fresh AI Hell:

• Family business stops shipping due to automated delivery nonsense
• Google CEO Sundar Pichai says people aren't "evolved" enough to understand AI
• "California judges are testing a new AI clerk, and you won't know if it’s looking at your case"
• Nonconsensual "AI monitors" for memory care
• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says the goal is Star Trek computer and/or R2D2
• "A little surveillance break, as a treat"
• "Virtual child" chatbot company
• Chaser: Festus, MO residents vote out council members who approved data center

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

Find our book The AI Con here, and MAIHT3k merch here.

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.