Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000

Move 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.
Our merch store is now live on the DAIR website!
Find our book, The AI Con, here.
Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.
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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.

This 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.
Our merch store is now live on the DAIR website!
Find our book, The AI Con, 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.

For 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 Report
Also referenced:
Original "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper" photo
"The Number of People Using AI at Work Is Suddenly Falling"
Fresh AI Hell:
Fresh AI Hell, Wrapped
Adobe 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.
Our merch store is now live on the DAIR website!
Find our book, The AI Con, 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.

There'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 object
Fresh 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-mole
Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.
Our merch store is now live on the DAIR website!
Find our book, The AI Con, 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.

Tech leaders are pushing the idea that automation can strengthen democracy — but as usual, their bold suggestions are based on castles made of sand. Alex and Emily tear down some flimsy arguments for AI governance, exposing their incorrect assumptions about the democratic process.

References:
"This Is No Way to Rule a Country"
"Four ways AI is being used to strengthen democracies worldwide"
Also referenced:
Collective Intelligence Project surveys
Interview with CalMatters CEO
Fresh AI Hell:
Amazon introduces AI translation for Kindle authors
Nature op ed recommends AI versions of Einstein, Bohr, and Feynman
An AI Podcasting Machine Is Churning Out 3,000 Episodes a Week
AI dating café to open in New York
Recipe slop flooding social media
AI slop about Autism published in Nature
Upwork ad for fixing LLM editorial
"Hundreds of Chicago residents sign petition to pause robot delivery pilot program over safety concerns"
Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.
Our merch store is now live on the DAIR website!
Find our book, The AI Con, 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.