Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000

Technology journalist Paris Marx joins Alex and Emily for a conversation about the environmental harms of the giant data centers and other water- and energy-hungry infrastructure at the heart of LLMs and other generative tools like ChatGPT -- and why the hand-wavy assurances of CEOs that 'AI will fix global warming' are just magical thinking, ignoring a genuine climate cost and imperiling the clean energy transition in the US.Paris Marx is a tech journalist and host of the podcast Tech Won’t Save Us. He also recently launched a 4-part series, Data Vampires, (which features Alex) about the promises and pitfalls of data centers like the ones AI boosters rely on.References:Eric Schmidt says AI more important than climate goalsMicrosoft's sustainability reportSam Altman's “The Intelligence Age” promises AI will fix the climate crisisPreviously on MAIHT3K: Episode 19: The Murky Climate and Environmental Impact of Large Language Models, November 6 2023Fresh AI Hell:Rosetta to linguists: "Embrace AI or risk extinction" of endangered languagesA talking collar that you can use to pretend to talk with your petsGoogle offers synthetic podcasts through NotebookLMAn AI 'artist' claims he's losing millions of dolalrs from people stealing his workUniversity hiring English professor to teach...prompt engineeringYou can check out future livestreams at https://twitch.tv/DAIR_Institute.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyMBender Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/emilymbender.bsky.social Alex Twitter: https://twitter.com/@alexhanna Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@alex Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexhanna.bsky.social Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.

Can “AI” do your science for you? Should it be your co-author? Or, as one company asks, boldly and breathlessly, “Can we automate the entire process of research itself?”Major scientific journals have banned the use of tools like ChatGPT in the writing of research papers. But people keep trying to make “AI Scientists” a thing. Just ask your chatbot for some research questions, or have it synthesize some human subjects to save you time on surveys.Alex and Emily explain why so-called “fully automated, open-ended scientific discovery” can’t live up to the grandiose promises of tech companies. Plus, an update on their forthcoming book!References:Sakana.AI keeps trying to make 'AI Scientist' happenThe AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific DiscoveryCan LLMs Generate Novel Research Ideas? A Large-Scale Human Study with 100+ NLP ResearchersHow should the advent of large language models affect the practice of science?Relevant research ethics policies:ACL Policy on Publication EthicsCommittee On Public Ethics (COPE)The Vancouver Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly WorkFresh AI Hell:Should journals allow LLMs as co-authors?Business Insider "asks ChatGPT"Otter.ai sends transcript of private after-meeting discussion to everyone"Could AI End Grief?"AI generated crime scene footage"The first college of nursing to offer an MSN in AI"FTC cracks down on "AI" claimsYou can check out future livestreams at https://twitch.tv/DAIR_Institute.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyMBender Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/emilymbender.bsky.social Alex Twitter: https://twitter.com/@alexhanna Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@alex Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexhanna.bsky.social Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.

Did your summer feel like an unending barrage of terrible ideas for how to use “AI”? You’re not alone. It's time for Emily and Alex to clear out the poison, purge some backlog, and take another journey through AI hell -- from surveillance of emotions, to continued hype in education and art.Fresh AI Hell:Synthetic data for Hollywood test screeningsNaNoWriMo's AI failAI is built on exploitationNaNoWriMo sponsored by an AI writing companyNaNoWriMo's AI writing sponsor creates bad writingAI assistant rickrolls customersProgramming LLMs with "fiduciary duty"Canva increasing prices thank to "AI" featuresAd spending by AI companiesClearview AI hit with largest GDPR fine yet'AI detection' in schools harms neurodivergent kidsCS prof admits unethical ChatGPT useCollege recruiter chatbot can't discuss politics"The AI-powered nonprofits reimagining education"Teaching AI at art schoolsProfessors' 'AI twins' as teaching assistantsA teacherless AI classroomAnother 'AI scientist'LLMs still biased against African American EnglishAI "enhances" photo of Black people into white-appearingEric Schmidt: Go ahead, steal data with ChatGPTThe environmental cost of Google's "AI Overviews"Jeff Bezos' "Grand Challenge" for AI in environmentWhat I found in an AI-company's e-wastexAI accused of worsening smog with unauthorized gas turbinesSmile surveillance of workersAI for "emotion recognition" of rail passengersChatbot harassment scenario reveals real victimAI has hampered productivity"AI" in a product description turns off consumersIs tripe kosher? It depends on the religion of the cow.You can check out future livestreams at https://twitch.tv/DAIR_Institute.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyMBender Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/emilymbender.bsky.social Alex Twitter: https://twitter.com/@alexhanna Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@alex Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexhanna.bsky.social Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.

Dr. Clara Berridge joins Alex and Emily to talk about the many 'uses' for generative AI in elder care -- from "companionship," to "coaching" like medication reminders and other encouragements toward healthier (and, for insurers, cost-saving) behavior. But these technologies also come with questionable data practices and privacy violations. And as populations grow older on average globally, technology such as chatbots is often used to sidestep real solutions to providing meaningful care, while also playing on ageist and ableist tropes.Dr. Clara Berridge is an associate professor at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work. Her research focuses explicitly on the policy and ethical implications of digital technology in elder care, and considers things like privacy and surveillance, power, and decision-making about technology use.References:Care.Coach's 'Avatar' chat program*For Older People Who Are Lonely, Is the Solution a Robot Friend?Care Providers’ Perspectives on the Design of Assistive Persuasive Behaviors for Socially Assistive RobotsSocio-Digital Vulnerability***Care.Coach's 'Fara' and 'Auger' products, also discussed in this episode, are no longer listed on their site.Fresh AI Hell:Apple Intelligence hidden prompts include the command "don't hallucinate"The US wants to use facial recognition to identify migrant children as they ageFamily poisoned after following fake mushroom bookIt is a beautiful evening in the neighborhood, and you are a horrible Waymo robotaxiDynamic pricing + surveillance hell at the grocery storeChinese social media's newest trend: imitating AI-generated videosYou can check out future livestreams at https://twitch.tv/DAIR_Institute.Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown. Follow us!Emily Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmilyMBender Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/emilymbender.bsky.social Alex Twitter: https://twitter.com/@alexhanna Mastodon: https://dair-community.social/@alex Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alexhanna.bsky.social Music by Toby Menon.Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park. Production by Christie Taylor.