Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Have you seen Ghost in the Machine yet? If not, you are in for a treat --- a thoughtful, wry deep dive into the history, present, and ideology of "AI". Streaming for free on PBS's YouTube channel in the US & Korea, rentable on Kinema elsewhere. https://notaidoc.com/

notaidoc.com

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· 6d ago

Boosted by @MaryAustinBooks@mstdn.social

New from @timnitGebru@dair-community.social and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/01/forget-superintelligence-error-prone-ai-nearly-sparked-world-war-iii-this-month

theguardian.com

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

Here's the thing about social media folks: Post on your own feed = people who follow you and presumably want to know your thoughts will see it. Reply to someone else's post = you are demanding attention from someone else, so you'd be well advised to check whether you are telling them something they likely already know. Wanna share a thought based on what someone else said? Bare minimum, respect their expertise and acknowledge their contribution.

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/110906329010147244 Every time I decide to post a thread to Mastodon, I'm hit with a new wave of mansplaining. What is it with the culture here? Why do all of these guys think it's so important to share their deep insights in my mentions when they can just post on their own feed? FFS.

Quoting

I use Mastodon for public scholarship, because that is one of the main benefits I see to public/open social media. It's how I used Twitter and I've definitely benefited from other people using social media this way. But in my experience, Mastodon is 'splainy AF, which is exhausting. Just this morning, a gentleman decided I would benefit from an explanation of GIGO, FFS. So, while I never insist on titles, I'm going to include mine in my display name for a while, to see if that helps.

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "I use Mastodon for public scholarship, because th…" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 1w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

I think there are two key lessons from Linguistics as we deal with LLMs/chatbots being imposed on us everywhere. Grateful for Undark Magazine giving space for me to lay these out: https://undark.org/2026/09/25/interview-artificial-intelligence/

undark.org

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· 2w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

From @timnitGebru@dair-community.social and me on what we should take from the 2026 summer of AI hype: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/22/1144867/dont-be-fooled-summer-ai-hype/

MIT Technology Review

Don’t be fooled by this summer of AI hype

Breathless claims about AGI and new capabilities fall apart pretty quickly under scrutiny.

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· 4d ago

On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, we’re so excited to chat with authors of the new book, Against Tech Oligarchy! JS Tan]and Clarissa Redwine will join me and @alex@dair-community.social to chat about tech industry labor. Tune in: Monday, Oct 5, noon Pacific https://twitch.tv/dair_institute

twitch.tv

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 1mo ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Created this for a reply on LinkedIn, but it applies pretty generally, so posting it here, too:

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· 2w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Me: I do not need the mansplaining mansplained. No idea why you thought that might be welcome. Mansplainer: Buh buh buh why are you so rude to meeeee --- Me: Replying to someone is demanding their attention. Mansplainer: Well actually people have different mental models of social media. --- Starting to see the pattern: mansplainers don't understand consent, but feel VERY ENTITLED to push their uninteresting thoughts into other people's mentions.

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· 2w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

All of this coverage of AI Doomerism making you anxious? It's nonsense and you can go back to your more pressing concerns. If you want to learn more: https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/what-to-read-to-stay-grounded-amidst-ai-doomerism/

What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism

buttondown.com

What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism

Our recommendations for the anxious and perplexed By: Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna and Decca Muldowney There’s a subculture within the “AI” industry that...

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· 2w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Thinking about the selling point of "AI" supposedly "freeing up time" to do important things. Beyond devaluing the tasks that we can supposedly offload to software systems, it occurs to me that this is kind of opposite of mindfulness/being in the moment. A short thread >>

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· 1w ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

I'm afraid the Doomer discourse has persisted for another week (UN "AI" briefing, etc) so in case you missed this when we first put it out earlier in this bananas news cycle, I'm reposting it: https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/what-to-read-to-stay-grounded-amidst-ai-doomerism/ w/ @alex@dair-community.social and @deccamuldowney@journa.host

buttondown.com

What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism

Our recommendations for the anxious and perplexed By: Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna and Decca Muldowney There’s a subculture within the “AI” industry that...

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· 2w ago

Me: Puts time and effort into curating a reading list (nb: this is not my day job) to help people with navigating this bananas moment where the media is captured by all the worst AI bros, posts link here on the Fedi. Mansplainer in my replies on Mastodon: "It's just marketing" Me: YES, I KNOW. Also, do you realize it's possible to either keep your thoughts to your self or just post on your own feed? Sheesh.

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

They can't, because the Doomer narrative *is* the Booster narrative. To debunk the Doomer stuff (and it *is* bunk), you have to point out that it's based on pure fantasy that the mathy maths are going to combust into consciousness ... ... or if not consciousness, then some thinking, reasoning, self-improving entity. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

The Boosters say: AI is a thing, it's inevitable, it's imminent and it's going to solve all of our problems. The Doomers say: AI is a thing, it's inevitable, it's imminent and it's going to kill us all. These are obviously the same story, with just different twists at the end. And both are nonsense. There is "moderate" position between them, but there is space outside of that fantasy world where we can see the actual harms happening in the name of "AI". >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Boosted by @oxy@social.bsdlab.au

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/117271327519433700 Folks, if you want to know what's *really* up with "AI", where the harms lie, and contextualize the nonsense du jour, this film is must watch.

Quoting

For audiences in the US and Korea, Ghost in the Machine is now available on PBS's YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLQzVLtvdv8

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "For audiences in the US and Korea, Ghost in the M…" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 3w ago

Replying to

I want everyone, especially journalists, to notice the silence of the tech execs about this. This includes people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg whose recent blog posts talk about balancing the benefits and harms of "AI", and don't include Doomer scenarios among the harms. They are complicit in the misinforming of the public. They are complicit in stoking everyone's fear. They reap the benefits of the Doomer narrative because it is their narrative. /fin

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

For audiences in the US and Korea, Ghost in the Machine is now available on PBS's YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLQzVLtvdv8

Ghost in the Machine | Full Documentary

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

But please pause for a moment and think about what metaphors "unleash" rests on. What do we put leashes on? (Mostly dogs) Why do we keep dogs on leashes? (To keep them from running off and hurting themselves, other animals, or people.) So when you talk about "unleashing" a software system, what properties does that framing attribute to the system? >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

As @alex@dair-community.social and I write in The AI Con (see cp 6): even though the Boosters and the Doomers like to portray themselves as holding down opposite extremes of opinions on "AI", they are two sides of the same coin. https://thecon.ai >>

THE AI CON

How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

@TheNeedling@newsie.social

RE: https://newsie.social/@TheNeedling/117290024708643957 We effectively did a whole podcast on this, but the Needling gets the point across in a single short piece: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/19817583-manifesting-the-end-of-tech-bro-manifestos-2026-09-08

Quoting

The Needling

New AI Literacy Program Awards Students Free Pizza If They Don’t Know How to Read Books Anymore: https://theneedling.com/2026/09/17/new-ai-literacy-program-awards-students-free-pizza-if-they-dont-know-how-to-read-books-anymore/

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

newsie.social

The Needling: "New AI Literacy Program Awards Students Free Pizz…" - Newsie

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· 3w ago

Replying to

As I was walking home yesterday, I got flagged down by my neighbor who had heard a panic-inducing story about rogue AI from a friend over lunch and hoped I could talk her down. I could and I did! But I am recognizing her distress (likely repeated across many many ordinary people) as yet another harm perpetuated by the people selling "AI" narratives. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

Nadella, Pichai, Huang, Zuckerberg, Huang, Dean --- you all own this unhinged narrative just as much as the Doomers do.

Of course, they're happy to own this, because they benefit as much as Altman, Amodei, and Musk from keeping the policymakers focused on fantasies.

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

Where are Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, Jensen Huang, XD Huang, Jeff Dean on this? Why aren't they out there calling out the Doomer narrative for the nonsense that it is? I have an hypothesis: >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 85: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/19817583-manifesting-the-end-of-tech-bro-manifestos-2026-09-08 … in which @alex@dair-community.social and I sift through the ramblings of billionaires who understand neither the world we live in nor the tech they’re selling.

buzzsprout.com

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Happy UK paperback release day to our book! https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/468070/the-ai-con-by-hanna-emily-m-bender-and-alex/9781529949902 w/ @alex@dair-community.social

penguin.co.uk

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· 2mo ago

From Altman proclaiming the “singularity”, to the Guardian publishing blather about possible AI consciousness, to OpenAI and Anthropic blaming their cybercrimes on “rogue models” the nonsense is coming fast and thick these days and much of the media is lapping it up. Time for another Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream with me and @alex@dair-community.social: Monday, August 3, noon PT https://twitch.tv/dair_institute

twitch.tv

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/117292656176293011 Also available as video on PeerTube: https://peertube.dair-institute.org/w/b8fH3fp2fr3Dpki11tsWfb

Quoting

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 85: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/19817583-manifesting-the-end-of-tech-bro-manifestos-2026-09-08 … in which @alex@dair-community.social and I sift through the ramblings of billionaires who understand neither the world we live in nor the tech they’re selling.

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Episode 85: https:…" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 2mo ago

A couple of days ago I did a jetlagged live posting on bsky about the terrible op-ed in the Guardian about "AI" consciousness. Not going to port it bit by bit over here, but someone used skywriter to put it all in one place. For your enjoyment, some ridicule as praxis: https://skywriter.blue/@emilymbender.bsky.social/3mqzj7xzqfc2i

Skywriter

Page by Emily M. Bender | @emilymbender.bsky.social

How about a jet-lagged live posting while I read? Trying to read this because I keep getting tagged in posts about it, but the first paragraph already contains synthetic text (a quote from Claude). I will skip that bit and persevere... theguardian.com...

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

LinkedIn where people come to proudly state that they have cooked their own brains and/or just really really love licking those boots. All of these were in response to my post about the ACM's announcement that they've decided "Now is the Time to Give LLMS Access to the ACM Digital Library" and then requestd input on that decision.

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

Agreed that AI slop is a problem for scientific publishing (and the information ecosystem at large). But what's missing here is any mention of consequences for those who produce and submit it. "AI" errors don't just appear in papers. They are there because of specific decisions, most proximally the decision by authors (or maybe "authors") to use extruded academic-looking text in their submissions. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/117016420622784045 Today!

Quoting

From Altman proclaiming the “singularity”, to the Guardian publishing blather about possible AI consciousness, to OpenAI and Anthropic blaming their cybercrimes on “rogue models” the nonsense is coming fast and thick these days and much of the media is lapping it up. Time for another Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream with me and @alex@dair-community.social: Monday, August 3, noon PT https://twitch.tv/dair_institute

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "From Altman proclaiming the “singularity”, to the…" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

Same section again: LLMs can't do research and they also can't do research misconduct. This phrasing is displacing agency from actual scientists who try to automate their own jobs to software systems (which cannot be held accountable). >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

RE: @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Join us tomorrow!

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "From Altman proclaiming the “singularity”, to the…" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

LinkedIn posts (see prev toot for context)

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

One of my worst speech technology nightmares has been happening right in my own city! In the latest Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, @alex@dair-community.social and I dig into it: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/episodes/19535278-state-of-emergency-2026-06-29

buzzsprout.com

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

Also, although synthetic text is never a good idea, this particular type of synthetic text (the sycophantic type) results from specific design decisions rather than any inherent properties of LLMs. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

I'm also intrigued by the use of "human" in contrast with "LLM" in this passage. I've been trying to work out why "human" used in this way is so icky to me, and I think it is in part because it is the form we use in the "human vs. machine" dichotomy. That dichotomy minimizes what it is to be human in an effort to raise machines up as comparable to actual people. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

RE: @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Also available as video on PeerTube:
https://peertube.dair-institute.org/w/23g3vAkBsgQM1svfo3hhRD

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her): "One of my worst speech technology nightmares has …" - Distributed AI Research Community

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· 2mo ago

Replying to

This next paragraph also betrays confusion on the part of the author as to what they are describing. AlphaFold and GNoME (called LLMs above) aren't chatbots and so don't provide the kind of output that is called or experienced as "sycophantic". >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

Meanwhile, the immediate next segment deeply misunderstands what language models are. Here, the words are quote, so from a different author, but "still struggles" suggests a) that might change (but fundamental task/tech mismatches don't) and b) that there is some effort coming from the LLMs. >>

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 1mo ago

Replying to

@scottwilson@infosec.exchange Thank you! @alex@dair-community.social

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@nefles@piaille.fr @alex@dair-community.social Not out, and also so far no publishers have been interested, alas. Spanish and Italian are out, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Turkish are on the way.

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2mo ago

Replying to

@Npars01@mstdn.social @alex@dair-community.social thank you!

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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her) @emilymbender@dair-community.social

· 2d ago

Boosted by @oxy@social.bsdlab.au

RE: https://dair-community.social/@emilymbender/117373648425005854 Today!

Quoting

On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, we’re so excited to chat with authors of the new book, Against Tech Oligarchy! JS Tan]and Clarissa Redwine will join me and @alex@dair-community.social to chat about tech industry labor. Tune in: Monday, Oct 5, noon Pacific https://twitch.tv/dair_institute