Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna: The AI Con

What if everything you’ve been told about AI is a con?

In this episode, we sit down with linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna — two of the most incisive critics of mainstream AI discourse — to discuss their explosive new book, The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. Together, they unravel how Silicon Valley has spun powerful myths about “superintelligence,” “alignment,” and “autonomous systems” to distract from real, present-day harms.

We talk about:

    Why AI isn't actually intelligent — and why that matters

    How narratives about “rogue AI” obscure corporate accountability

    The labor, data, and power structures that prop up the AI industry

    What meaningful tech justice and resistance could look like

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone trying to understand the gap between AI hype and AI reality — and what’s at stake when we get it wrong.

📘 Grab the book: The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want - at thecon.ai

🎧 Listen now and join the conversation.