Podcast
Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000
Hosted by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna · EN
Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this podcast, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna break down the AI hype, separate fact from fiction, and science from bloviation. They're joined by special guests and talk about everything, from machine consciousness to science fiction, to political economy to art made by machines.
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Hotter Than (AI) Hell, 2026.04.20
3w ago00:55:37Tap to summarizeThe weather’s getting warmer, so what better time to take a trip to the hottest place in the universe — Fresh AI Hell! Emily and Alex take a spin through more than 30 hype artifacts, with topics including medicine, data centers, and fake people.Fresh AI Hell regions visited:AI bubble + data centersFake peopleMedicineThis is your brain on ChatGPTPolicy + privacySee the show notes on Peertube for a full list of artifacts referenced.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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →There's No Ghost in the Machine (with Carmen Maria Machado), 2026.04.13
Apr 2800:53:37Tap to summarizeWhy are some writers and publishers so excited to automate their work? Author Carmen Maria Machado joins Alex and Emily to unpack what writers are missing when they hand off their work to chatbots, and the underlying issues this reveals in the publishing industry. Plus, we resolve to keep fan fiction a human endeavor!Carmen Maria Machado is the author of the bestselling memoir In the Dream House and the award-winning short story collection Her Body and Other Parties. Her essays, fiction, and criticism have appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Granta, Vogue, This American Life, The Believer, Guernica, and elsewhere.Find tickets to our April 30th live show here!References:- "I wrote a novel using AI. Writers must accept artificial intelligence."- AFT shares tips for "Harnessing the Best of AI"Fresh AI Hell:- "With Teens Comfortable Confiding in AI, Should Schools Embrace It for Mental Health Care?"- Longread on the use of automation by the British government- "OpenAI Backs Bill That Would Limit Liability for AI-Enabled Mass Deaths or Financial Disasters"- UN brief on "AI Deception"- Reader's Digest cover on "Making Friends with AI"- The only good "AI acceptance" policyCheck 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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Uber for Military Surveillance (with Niamh McIntyre), 2026.03.30
Apr 1600:53:44Tap to summarizeThe people who make automated translation possible are often low-paid gig workers. Usually, they don't even know who they're really working for — and it might be the US military. Reporter Niamh McIntyre joins Alex and Emily to dissect how one data labeling company presents its work, based her investigation into the experiences of East African employees.Niamh McIntyre is a senior reporter at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) in London, covering AI, labor, and surveillance tech. She was 2023 AI Accountability Fellow at the Pulitzer Center, and prior to joining TBIJ, spent four years as a data journalist at The Guardian.Find tickets to our April 30th live show here!References:Appen blog post on "Why AI Must be Ethical and Responsible"Also referenced:"Gig workers in Africa have been helping the US military. They had no idea"DAIR's Data Workers' InquiryFresh AI Hell:Marc Andreessen says "there is no inner self"Rest of World call for stories on labor and techDetrans.AI wants you to talk to fake detransitionersMelania proposes catwalking robot as replacement for teachersMicrosoft sidelines Mustafa SuleymanAndrej Karpathy cooked by LLM usage"Sorry AI, you can't call yourself a nurse"Volunteer fire department rejects $250,000 Google donationCheck 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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Data Centers Go Nuclear (with Maia Woluchem and Dr. Livia Garofalo), 2026.03.09
Mar 3100:57:12Tap to summarizeWe knew that the energy demands of data centers were preventing dirty energy sources from being sunsetted. Now hyperscalers are reaching even further, resurrecting Pennsylvania's infamous Three Mile Island. Emily and Alex are joined by Maia Woluchem and Dr. Livia Garofalo, who have researched the impacts of data center construction across PA.Maia Woluchem and Livia Garofalo are with the Trustworthy Infrastructures program at Data & Society. Their latest article, "Pennsylvania is perfect," is part of the New Internationalist's AI–themed issue.References:Three Mile Island press releaseSen. McCormick on AI investments in PAMcCormick's wife Meta presidentFresh AI Hell:Amazon data center targeted by Iran"AI-powered bombing quicker than 'speed of thought'"Meta's AI glasses use human reviewers (See also: original Swedish reporting)Bernie posts video with YudkowskyGrammarly offers fake advice as if from real writersGoogle data center water estimates"AI Doesn't Reduce Work—It Intensifies It"High schooler questions surveillanceCheck 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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Data Centers in Space!? (with Dr. Adam Becker), 2026.03.02
Mar 1700:53:38Tap to summarizeData centers are overburdening the planet, so tech billionaires have a new scheme — put 'em in space! Astrophysicist Dr. Adam Becker joins Alex and Emily to launch this plan into the sun. We unpack all the reasons that this hilariously terrible idea will never be viable outside of sci-fi-villain fantasies.Dr. Adam Becker is the author of More Everything Forever, a book about the terrible plans that tech billionaires have for the future and why they don’t work. Keep an eye out for his new podcast, Dreaming Against the Machine, which is launching soon.References:SpaceX press release on "space-based AI""How data centres in space sustainably enable the AI revolution"Also referenced:Nvidia blog post on data centers in spaceStarcloud white paperFresh AI Hell:Judge rules chatbots can't offer attorney-client privilege"RFK Jr's Nutrition Chatbot Recommends Best Foods to Insert Into Your Rectum"AI company seeks writer who doesn't use LLMsAltman likens AI energy use to human nutritional needsSXSW promoting panel with "AI speaker"The agent-erati just want servantsNews editor mad that journalism students don't want to use AISimple rules for fighting fascist techCheck 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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →How the War Department Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI (with Naomi Klein), 2026.02.09
Feb 2600:52:02Tap to summarizeAI boosters and the US military are engaged in a lethal love affair. Award-winning journalist Naomi Klein joins Emily and Alex to discuss how glitchy technology supports global imperialism — and vice versa. Plus, we explore which Dr. Strangelove characters are currently running the US war machine.Naomi Klein is a columnist for The Guardian and the international bestselling author of nine books published in over 35 languages. Her new book, End Times Fascism: And the Fight for the Living World, written with Astra Taylor, will be published in September 2026.References:War Department press release on GenAI.milOld-school racism from Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey"How artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of war"Previous episodes referenced:Episode 61: Winning the Race to Hell (with Sarah Myers West and Kate Brennan)Episode 50: Petro-Masculinity Versus the Planet (with Tamara Kneese)Fresh AI Hell:"Cops Forced to Explain Why AI Generated Police Report Claimed Officer Transformed Into Frog""Amazon outbids WA utility for one of nation's largest solar projects""AI data centers are forcing dirty 'peaker' power plants back into service""Mamdani Targets 'Unusable' AI Chatbot for Termination"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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →A Bad Case of Hype-itis, 2026.02.02
Feb 1200:56:20Tap to summarizeMove over Dr. Google, Dr. ChatGPT is here, and it's even worse as a medical intervention! Alex and Emily scrub in to slice up some harmful new nonsense in the world of "AI" for medicine. What's the cure for an expensive and inaccessible health care system? One thing's for sure — it's not AI hype.References:"Stop Worrying, and Let A.I. Help Save Your Life""Introducing ChatGPT Health"Also referenced:"No, I don't want an AI scribe to write my pulmonologist’s note""The Danger of Intimate Algorithms"MAIHT3k Episode 62: The Robo-Therapist Will See You Now (with Maggie Harrison Dupré)Fresh AI Hell:Waymo files vague NHTSA report on crash that killed KitKat (See also: NHTSA Standing General Order on Crash Reporting)"Medical Schools Use AI Patients to Help With Clinical Training""What If Your Coffee Mug Knew Your Next Move? AI Researchers Made It Happen""Monkeys are on the loose in St. Louis and AI is complicating efforts to capture them"Using LLMs to "infer race, ethnicity"Tech CEOs hate ridicule as praxis!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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Hell All the Way Down, 2022–2025
Jan 3000:40:34Tap to summarizeThis is a special episode, and it’s not like our usual livestream recordings. Instead, our producer Ozzy dug through the Fresh AI Hell archives to create a supercut of Alex's improvised transitions. She's made up dozens of skits and songs about the demons of AI Hell, based on weekly prompts from Emily and listeners. Finally, hear all the lore together in one place!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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Wrapping Up a Hellish 2025, 2025.12.15
Jan 1300:58:29Tap to summarizeFor our last recording of 2025, Emily and Alex take on a TIME article naming the "architects of AI" as their person of the year. We also look back at the year in AI nonsense, and share findings from our Fresh AI Hell Wrapped. Happy Hype-y New Year!References:"The Architects of AI Are TIME's 2025 Person of the Year"Stanford AI Index ReportAlso referenced:Original "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photo"The Number of People Using AI at Work Is Suddenly Falling"Fresh AI Hell:Fresh AI Hell, WrappedAdobe for Education outputs sexualized images"'Low Tech ChatGPT' on physical paper""Springer Nature retracts, removes nearly 40 publications that trained neural networks on 'bonkers' dataset"Hologram lecturers and robot sandwich-makers"'ChatGPT for Doctors' Startup Doubles Valuation to $12 Billion as Revenue Surges"No more ideas. Need AIdeas!"For the First Time, AI Analyzes Language as Well as a Human Expert""Woman Hailed as Hero for Smashing Man’s Meta Smart Glasses on Subway"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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
Transcribe →Defining AGI: Oops! All Eugenics, 2025.12.08
Dec 3000:55:01Tap to summarizeThere's a new definition of artificial general intelligence in town, and unsurprisingly... it's bad! Alex and Emily rip up the tissue-paper-thin premises behind this latest attempt to define "intelligence." Plus, we discover that AI hypers love using logos that look like buttholes.References:"A Definition of AGI" landing page and paper-shaped objectFresh AI Hell:"What If Sea Monkeys Constantly, Sometimes Dangerously, Bullshitted People"Doctronic, the "AI doctor"NIST reports companies cheat on "AI" evaluations"Microsoft Lowers Sales Staff's Growth Targets For Newer AI Software""PEN Guild wins landmark arbitration on AI protections""AI" assistant pop-up whack-a-moleCheck 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!EmilyBluesky: emilymbender.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBenderAlexBluesky: alexhanna.bsky.socialMastodon: dair-community.social/@alexTwitter: @alexhannaMusic by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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