Technology that doesn't work is a desired feature to the surveillance state, not a bug. When everyone is a "maybe" match, then probably cause can be manufactured to justify whatever it is one wanted to do in the first place. www.wired.com/story/cbp-ic...

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This was such a fun conversation! I’m glad to see pieces of it making the rounds again in a new form

We learned so much from @mmelkersen.bsky.social when she was on the pod!

But now we are fortunate to have @fractalecho.bsky.social 's amazing book out in the world. Read it to be better prepared to recognize & combat ableism and eugenics in "AI" discourse. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Shame on @nature.com for publishing this ableist trash, and shame on the authors for writing it: Short 🧵>>

Big news: @alexhanna.bsky.social and I are over the moon to welcome @naomiaklein.bsky.social to Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 to discuss “AI” and the military industrial complex. Join us for the livestream: Monday, Feb 9, noon PT, twitch.tv/dair_institute

Struggling to understand the world view that would make Anthropic's credulous inclusion of their stochastic parrot's output in their "system card" for said system "worth reading". Also, it really hurts to see such a mockery of system documentation.

Full episode here: www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis...

There’s no such thing as an unbiased chatbot. Academic librarian Raina Bloom @mmelibrarian.bsky.social on how “AI” developers ignore how people actually become informed. From Ep. 51 of Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, “The War on Knowledge”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Bannon (and his buddies) are using an informational strategy called reflexive control that intentionally exploits the reaction of his adversaries (on the left) to inflict damage on their own side. Don't become an unwitting agent in their information operation.

I just posted the latest issue of "the books I read last month". In January I got the pleasure of picking up both The AI Con by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social, as well as On Tyranny by @timothysnyder.bsky.social Both amazing reads. open.substack.com/pub/makemeac...

I have seen both of these movies (and full disclosure, I was interviewed for the first one), and Emily is spot on as usual. "The AI Doc" is manipulative, shallow, and shockingly bad.

Ever since the Stochastic Parrots paper was published, I've been fielding the question "How do I know that you're not (just) a stochastic parrot?" ... one that I find inherently dehumanizing, as I write about here: journals-sagepub-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/doi/10.1177/... Short 🧵>>

This week we at Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 have a special treat from you: Our amazing producer Ozzy Llinas Goodman has put together a supercut of all of the transitions to our Fresh AI Segment. Bask in the glory that is @alexhanna.bsky.social's improv skills! www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis...

Today! And note the special time (8:30am Pacific)

I am really angry about all of the scientists who cozied up to Epstein even after it was known who he was. I am nearly as angry at how many people are justifying this as "they had to, it's how academia works" NO IT FUCKING WELL ISN'T

I just got tear gassed along with thousands of union members, many of whom had their families with them. Federal agents at the ICE facility tear gassed children. We must abolish ICE, DHS, and we must have prosecutions. I expect to see enforcement of our city code prohibiting the use of tear gas.

Join us tomorrow!

This is the only thing AI dorks are talking about on Twitter. They will read sentience into anything before pausing to engage in critical thought.

Mansplainception: When you call out some mansplaining and the "well actually" crowd comes along to tell you it isn't.

You mean the same Gemini being pushed into K-12 schools?

We started this as a bit and got stuck! Anyhow, enjoy.

People are getting tumescent about a site that points text engines at each other so they can recursively dredge up parts of their search space that were trained on the entirety of Reddit while also triggering automation subroutines that have access to your API keys and passwords #moltbook

This week we at Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 have a special treat from you: Our amazing producer Ozzy Llinas Goodman has put together a supercut of all of the transitions to our Fresh AI Segment. Bask in the glory that is @alexhanna.bsky.social's improv skills! www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis...

Quilicura, Chile, one of the communities I wrote about in EMPIRE OF AI, has launched a brilliant initiative to inspire more responsible AI prompting. Today, don't use AI; ask the townspeople instead: quili.ai. So heartened to see this creative act of resistance.

Apparently I'm "uncivil" for telling a dude who'd been mansplaining at me for most of the hour that he should go to the library when he was whining about how ChatGPT is so useful for answering his questions about the fall of the Roman Empire. >>

Okay, we had to postpone, but now Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 is back for our first live stream of 2026, wherein @alexhanna.bsky.social and I will look into how our health care system is suffering from AI-hype-itis: Monday, Feb 2, 8:30am PT, twitch.tv/dair_institute **Note special time**

When people actually care about government services, and evaluate spending technology in terms of what it actually does rather than FOMO, look what happens!

hey hey it's cold outside, you need something cozy to do indoors, how about a movie that you can't see anywhere else? We're screening online through the @sundance.org festival portal in the US through Sunday night! You can buy a single-film pass right here:

When people actually care about government services, and evaluate spending technology in terms of what it actually does rather than FOMO, look what happens!

🎧Join the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream🎧 We're back! This coming Monday @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will look into how our health care system is suffering from AI-hype-itis: Monday, Feb 2, 8:30am PT, twitch.tv/dair_institute **Note special time**

Okay, we had to postpone, but now Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 is back for our first live stream of 2026, wherein @alexhanna.bsky.social and I will look into how our health care system is suffering from AI-hype-itis: Monday, Feb 2, 8:30am PT, twitch.tv/dair_institute **Note special time**

This is infuriating. We've known that these datasets are rife with CSAM since at least 2023, and those are the ones that are public. stacks.stanford.edu/file/druid:k...

We need transparency into where data are coming from, and we needed it yesterday. Bills like AB 412 can be helpful towards that end, and we need more like it. legiscan.com/CA/text/AB41...

Apparently I'm "uncivil" for telling a dude who'd been mansplaining at me for most of the hour that he should go to the library when he was whining about how ChatGPT is so useful for answering his questions about the fall of the Roman Empire. >>

Our final Sundance event is a FREE, VIRTUAL panel on a topic that we don't talk nearly enough about: the unseen labor costs of the AI industry. More info below but here's the sign-up link, it's tomorrow morning!

"The College approached a student to promote Evergreen.AI — the College’s wellness artificial intelligence project — in an op-ed in The Dartmouth and edited the article before submission to the paper." @emilymbender.bsky.social @alexhanna.bsky.social

tl;dr: Ghost in the Machine is a rich, historically grounded, well-researched exploration of what is going on in the name of "AI". It presents a lot of information, but also gives you time to sit with it, and ultimately leaves viewers better informed. bsky.app/profile/emil... >>

He's now posted a clip to bsky (and maybe elsewhere) which is mostly him talking. And includes only bare snippets of our answers/turns.

AI can cause harm even if it doesn't seem to affect *you*, even if those harms aren't observable or felt in any direct way by *your* future children. Being protected from certain harms doesn't make them less real or less important to address. Educating the public requires taking this broader view.

Interviewed for this doc years ago & have yet to see the final cut. Most of what I recall is how much Daniel had truly riled himself up - the confusion & chaos of this exaggerated boogyman version of "AI" had excited a genuine emotional response, despite successfully disguising AI's real terrors.

The same people who went after Karen Hao for a unit issue in her book are now going after Emily and I because we decided to explain neural networks to a mansplaining podcaster with little understanding of how they actually work.

"And when the first person [told me this], that machine learning and AI are actually rooted in eugenics, I was like, ‘OK, sure,’ and ended the Zoom call. And then I started researching it, shockingly, it’s true…" Pivot to video with us! @valerieveatch.bsky.social sat down with the IndieWire studio:

Introducing: the Ghosties Book Club! Want to see what we consulted as we researched and made this film? Need a chill winter break read? Here's a compilation of all the books our contributors have written, all in one place. notaidoc.com/bookclub

Well, I rarely participate in documentaries, and I got introduced to the people who made The AI Doc by someone I respect. Should have declined but hindsight is 20/20.

It's wild and not surprising that on Twitter, this man's defenders think that we were condescending to him.

For the most part, @alexhanna.bsky.social and I have managed to pick good podcasts to be intereviewed on, and accordingly, for the most part, it seems like the interviewer is interested in learning from us. This one was not like that at all.

I was interviewed for two documentaries about "AI" that both premiered at Sundance this year: @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social ("Ghost in the Machine") and "The AI Doc: How I Became an Apocaloptimist". As a pair, these films are a study in contrasts. Another long 🧵>>