Ep. 7: On automation and “The AI Con” with Dr. Alex Hanna

Jul 9, 2026

Almost every institution is pushing AI, but what does that word actually refer too? Dr. Alex Hanna joins us to discuss her and Emily M. Bender’s book, “The AI Con,” and the many forms of automation that fall under the marketing term “artificial intelligence.” We explore their many social consequences, and what can be done about them.

On automation and "The AI Con" with Dr. Alex Hanna – The Social Eye Podcast

Almost every institution is pushing AI, but what does that word actually refer too? Dr. Alex Hanna joins us to discuss her and Emily M. Bender's book, "The AI Con," and the many forms of automation that fall under the marketing term "artificial intelligence." We explore their many social consequences, and what can be done about them.The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)https://dair-institute.org/Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000https://dair-institute.org/maiht3k/The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hannahttps://thecon.ai/Luddite Labhttps://labor.dair-institute.org/Ghost Work: How to Stop Silicon Valley from Building a New Global Underclass by Mary Gray and Siddharth Suri https://marylgray.org/bio/on-demand/Data Workers Inquiry Projecthttps://data-workers.org/The first signs of burnout are coming from the people who embrace AI the most by Connie Loizoshttps://techcrunch.com/2026/02/09/the-first-signs-of-burnout-are-coming-from-the-people-who-embrace-ai-the-most/What Does AI Do? University management and technologies of crisis by Daniel Greenhttps://www.aaup.org/issue/spring-2026/what-does-ai-doMasheika Allgood of AllAI Consulting, LLChttps://www.allai-us.com/aboutThe AI Resist Listhttps://airesistlist.org/