Artificial Intelligence has too much hype. In this podcast, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna break down the AI hype, separate fact from fiction, and science from bloviation. They're joined by special guests and talk about everything, from machine consciousness to science fiction, to political economy to art made by machines.
…
continue reading
Explore the meaning of science fiction, and how it's relevant to real-life science and society. Your hosts are Annalee Newitz, a science journalist who writes science fiction, and Charlie Jane Anders, a science fiction writer who is obsessed with science. Every two weeks, we take deep dives into science fiction books, movies, television, and comics that will expand your mind -- and maybe change your life
…
continue reading
Join Dr Eleanor Drage and Dr Kerry McInerney as they ask the experts: what is good technology? Is ‘good’ technology even possible? And how can feminism help us work towards it? Each week, they invite scholars, industry practitioners, activists, and more to provide their unique perspective on what feminism can bring to the tech industry and the way that we think about technology. With each conversation, The Good Robot asks how feminism can provide new perspectives on technology’s biggest prob ...
…
continue reading
1
Episode 34: Senate Dot Roadmap Dot Final Dot No Really Dot Docx, June 3 2024
1:03:57
1:03:57
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:03:57
The politicians are at it again: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's series of industry-centric forums last year have birthed a "roadmap" for future legislation. Emily and Alex take a deep dive on this report, and conclude that the time spent writing it could have instead been spent...making useful laws. References: Driving US Innovation in Arti…
…
continue reading
1
Can Technology Save us from Housework? with Helen Hester
37:08
37:08
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:08
This is a special live episode because Kerry is talking to Professor Helen Hester at the tech transformed conference in London. Helen is a leading thinker of feminism technology and the future of work, and she explores the history of domestic technologies- so technology used around the house. It's really important that we understand that technologi…
…
continue reading
1
Romancing the Dragon, with Moniquill Blackgoose
47:18
47:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
47:18
We’re obsessed with dragons, and for good reason. These gigantic creatures soar through many cultures and genres — and they feel more relevant than ever today. We talk to author Moniquill Blackgoose about why, and discuss her Nebula-award winning novel To Shape A Dragon’s Breath. Then we have a completely non-awkward conversation about dragons and …
…
continue reading
1
Poisoning AI and Silencing Alexa with Heather Zheng
27:57
27:57
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
27:57
In this episode, we talk to Heather Zheng, who makes technologies that stop everyday surveillance. This includes bracelets that stopped devices from listening and on you, to more secure biometric technologies that can protect us by identifying us by for example, our dance moves. Most famously, Zheng is one of the computer scientists behind Nightsha…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 33: Much Ado About 'AI' 'Deception', May 20 2024
1:00:30
1:00:30
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:30
Will the LLMs somehow become so advanced that they learn to lie to us in order to achieve their own ends? It's the stuff of science fiction, and in science fiction these claims should remain. Emily and guest host Margaret Mitchell, machine learning researcher and chief ethics scientist at HuggingFace, break down why 'AI deception' is firmly a featu…
…
continue reading
1
Summer Entertainment Guide: What to Watch and Read this Summer!
55:18
55:18
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
55:18
The summer entertainment season is upon us! Many of our favorite TV shows are back, and there are a few movies we're excited about as well. Not to mention a flood of truly incredible books by many of our favorite authors. Here's our select guide to the stuff we're most pumped about this summer, and all the latest trends in entertainment.…
…
continue reading
1
Gamergate, Harassment, and Feminist Design with Caroline Sinders
35:59
35:59
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
35:59
In this episode we talk to Caroline Sinders, the human rights researcher, an artist, and the founder of convocation, design and research. We begin by talking about Gamergate, when women were harassed for being gamers. We also talk about what it's like doing high risk research about abusive misogynists online and experiences of doxing. Just to give …
…
continue reading
1
Episode 32: A Flood of AI Hell, April 29 2024
57:48
57:48
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
57:48
AI Hell froze over this winter and now a flood of meltwater threatens to drown Alex and Emily. Armed with raincoats and a hastily-written sea shanty*, they tour the realms, from spills of synthetic information, to the special corner reserved for ShotSpotter. **Lyrics & video on Peertube. *Surveillance:* Public kiosks slurp phone data Workplace surv…
…
continue reading
1
How Surveillance Dystopias Came True (with Wole Talabi)
1:05:15
1:05:15
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:05:15
You are being watched. Pop culture used to be full of vivid warnings about Big Brother watching you. What does it mean that we're now under constant surveillance for real? Plus we talk to Wole Talabi about his new story collection Convergence Problems.
…
continue reading
1
The curse of online beauty culture with Ellen Atlanta
33:25
33:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:25
We’re expected to look amazing online, but also natural. We’re fighting against the gender pay gap, but also spend thousands on cosmetics. In this episode, Ellen Atlanta talks us through the paradoxes of feminism and beauty in the digital sphere.By Dr Kerry McInerney and Dr Eleanor Drage
…
continue reading
1
Episode 31: Science Is a Human Endeavor (feat. Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri), April 15 2024
1:02:57
1:02:57
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:02:57
Will AI someday do all our scientific research for us? Not likely. Drs. Molly Crockett and Lisa Messeri join for a takedown of the hype of "self-driving labs" and why such misrepresentations also harm the humans who are vital to scientific research. Dr. Molly Crockett is an associate professor of psychology at Princeton University. Dr. Lisa Messeri…
…
continue reading
Psyops are used by the military against foreign enemies, but now these dangerous weapons of demoralization and chaos are being used in culture wars between Americans. In this episode, Annalee tells us about their new book Stories Are Weapons, a history of psychological warfare in the U.S. (yes, it includes scifi!) -- and an exploration of the ways …
…
continue reading
1
Needlework and History's Hidden Technologies with Isabella Rosner
33:09
33:09
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:09
In this episode, we talk to Dr. Isabella Rosner, a curator at the Royal School of Needlework and a research consultant at Witney Antiques. Isabella tells us about the evolution of embroidery as a technology, and the complex relationship between needlework and feminism. We use this history to shed light on technology and feminism today.…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 30: Marc's Miserable Manifesto, April 1 2024
1:00:45
1:00:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:45
Dr. Timnit Gebru guest-hosts with Alex in a deep dive into Marc Andreessen's 2023 manifesto, which argues, loftily, in favor of maximizing the use of 'AI' in all possible spheres of life. Timnit Gebru is the founder and executive director of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (DAIR). Prior to that she was fired by Google, wh…
…
continue reading
1
Fascism and Book Bans (with Maggie Tokuda-Hall)
56:59
56:59
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
56:59
Science fiction has been warning us about fascism for decades — so why haven't we listened? How did Nazis become just another monster in our stories, like werewolves or cyborgs? Plus we talk about the new wave of book censorship with Maggie Tokuda-Hall, co-founder of the new organization Authors Against Book Bans. Show notes: www.ouropinionsarecorr…
…
continue reading
1
The Turing Test is bullsh*t (w/Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender)
48:21
48:21
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
48:21
We're talking about the Turing Test, the grandmother of all tests for AI sentience. Joining us are AI researchers Alex Hanna and Emily M. Bender, hosts of the Mystery AI Hype 3000 podcast. We discuss why the Turing Test is so influential in both fiction and reality – and why it is completely wrong. Later in the episode, we’ll talk about another thi…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 29: How LLMs Are Breaking the News (feat. Karen Hao), March 25 2024
1:02:30
1:02:30
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:02:30
Award-winning AI journalist Karen Hao joins Alex and Emily to talk about why LLMs can't possibly replace the work of reporters -- and why the hype is damaging to already-struggling and necessary publications. References: Adweek: Google Is Paying Publishers to Test an Unreleased Gen AI Platform The Quint: AI Invents Quote From Real Person in Article…
…
continue reading
1
How China surveils Uyghur Muslims with Darren Byler
26:39
26:39
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
26:39
In this episode, we talked to Darren Byler, author of Terror Capitalism and In the Camps, Life in China's High Tech Penal Colony. We discussed his in depth research on Uyghur Muslims in China and the role played by technology in their persecution. If you're just listening to this on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, you can now watch us on…
…
continue reading
It's a scary time for LGBTQIA+ folks — and many of us are turning to horror stories that take our real-life terrors and make them even more monstrous. To find out why, we talk to Dr. Chuck Tingle, the author of Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, and we geek out about why queers love to be scared. Also, we talk about horror movie soundtracks — and th…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 28: LLMs Are Not Human Subjects, March 4 2024
1:00:57
1:00:57
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:00:57
Alex and Emily put on their social scientist hats and take on the churn of research papers suggesting that LLMs could be used to replace human labor in social science research -- or even human subjects. Why these writings are essentially calls to fabricate data. References: PNAS: ChatGPT outperforms crowd workers for text-annotation tasks Beware th…
…
continue reading
1
The Racial History of Dermatology with Thuy Linh Tu
27:46
27:46
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
27:46
In this episode we talk to Thuy Linh Thu, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at NYU. We talk about how good technology disperses power, while bad technology concentrates power, the racial history of dermatology, including the connections between the Vietnam War, medical experimentation on incarcerated men in the U. S., and retinol creams,. P…
…
continue reading
1
Videogame movies are officially better than comic book movies
52:36
52:36
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
52:36
At last, videogame movies have defeated comic book movies. We learn about why from Evan Narcisse, who writes for comic books and videogames, as well as being a journalist and critic. Then we rant about why so many people are obsessed with psychoanalyzing villains, and are flocking to stories that reveal the innermost traumas of bad guys. Why do we …
…
continue reading
In this very special Good Robot hot take we talk about our new book, The Good Robot: Why Technology Needs Feminism. It's a beautiful new illustrated book where the top scholars, activists, artists, writers, technologists, all come together to respond to the prompt: good technology is... Kerry and Eleanor chat about getting its illustrations as tatt…
…
continue reading
1
Encore Episode: Let's Obsess Over the Politics of Dune!
44:33
44:33
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
44:33
The long-awaited Dune sequel is in theaters now — and it's a huge hit. To celebrate, we're resurfacing one of our favorite episodes from the past. Is Dune a white savior fantasy? A subversive eco-parable? To find out, we talk to Haris Durrani, author of an influential essay about Dune.
…
continue reading
1
Episode 27: Asimov's Laws vs. 'AI' Death-Making (w/ Annalee Newitz & Charlie Jane Anders), February 19 2024
1:04:42
1:04:42
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
1:04:42
Science fiction authors and all-around tech thinkers Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders join this week to talk about Isaac Asimov's oft-cited and equally often misunderstood laws of robotics, as debuted in his short story collection, 'I, Robot.' Meanwhile, both global and US military institutions are declaring interest in 'ethical' frameworks f…
…
continue reading
Science fiction and fantasy fans love to argue about canon — both meanings of the word. Which stories in a fictional universe really "happened"? Which stories deserve to be enshrined as the best of the genre? We don't think either of those things is worth yelling about! Also, did you know that tsunamis can happen in lakes, rivers and even creeks? W…
…
continue reading
1
Feminist care ethics, techno-virtues and vices, and the 'AI Mirror' with Shannon Vallor
30:52
30:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:52
In this episode we chat to Shannon Vallor, the Bailey Gifford professor in the ethics and data of AI at the University of Edinburgh and the Director for the Centre for Technomoral Futures. We talk about feminist care ethics; technologies, vices and virtues; why Aristotle believed that the people who make technology should be excluded from citizensh…
…
continue reading
1
Episode 26: Universities Anxiously Buy in to the Hype (feat. Chris Gilliard), February 5 2024
59:52
59:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
59:52
Just Tech Fellow Dr. Chris Gilliard aka "Hypervisible" joins Emily and Alex to talk about the wave of universities adopting AI-driven educational technologies, and the lack of protections they offer students in terms of data privacy or even emotional safety. References: Inside Higher Ed: Arizona State Joins ChatGPT in First Higher Ed Partnership AS…
…
continue reading
1
The world's humblest heroes, from plumbers to tardigrades
46:43
46:43
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
46:43
Inspired by The Super Mario Bros Movie, we're talking about a humble class of heroes whose lives are devoted to infrastructure maintenance and repair. There are heating engineer rogues and space janitors and, of course, plumbers. Later in the episode we’ll head down to Antarctica, where our guest Ariel Waldman spent her summer vacation studying the…
…
continue reading