RE: @emilymbender@dair-community.social
So yeah, the next time someone says "How dare you say LLMs are useless, they even helped cure a dog's cancer!"
... point them to this:
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
mastodon
4.5.7
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington
Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS)
If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http://faculty.washington.edu/ebender/contact/
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
1d ago
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
1d ago
I've been seeing chatter about someone using ChatGPT to cure their dog's cancer, so decided to go find out what that was actually about.
Short 🧵>>
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Mar 09, 2026
I'm no artist, but hopefully this gets the point across. A comic in three panels.
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Mar 04, 2026
@alex@dair-community.social e io siamo al settimo cielo per la traduzione in Italiano del nostro libro "The AI Con"; "L’inganno dell’intelligenza artificiale" sarà disponibile il 17 Marzo!
https://fazieditore.it/libro/9791259678447
--
Alex and I are over the moon to announce that the Italian translation of "The AI Con" will be available from March 17!
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 27, 2026
On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, we’ll be keeping our feet firmly on the ground on the best planet as Dr. Adam Becker joins me and @alex@dair-community.social to discuss flimsy fantasies of data centers in space:
Monday, March 2, noon PT,
https://twitch.tv/dair_institute
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 27, 2026
Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, Ep 72: How the War Department Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI
In which Naomi Klein joins me and @alex@dair-community.social to discuss the merger between the US Department of War and Big Tech.
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 21, 2026
I was disappointed to read Cory Doctorow's post where he got weirdly defensive about his LLM use and started arguing with an imaginary foe.
@tante has a very thoughtful reply here:
https://tante.cc/2026/02/20/acting-ethical-in-an-imperfect-world/
A few further comments, 🧵>>
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 20, 2026
El Pais has an interview with me & @alex@dair-community.social , coinciding with the publication of the Spanish edition of The AI Con:
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 18, 2026
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 14, 2026
RE: @alex@dair-community.social
OpenAI (like all the other tech companies) trying to work in the health space without being subject to any of the regulations of the health space.
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 13, 2026
@alex@dair-community.social y yo estamos súper emocionadas porque la traducción al español de "The AI Con", La estafa de la IA, estará disponible el 18 de febrero.
--
@alex@dair-community.social and I are over the moon that the Spanish translation of The AI Con, La estafa de la IA, will be available on February 18!
https://www.planetadelibros.cl/libro-la-estafa-de-la-ia/442664
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Feb 06, 2026
Big news: @alex@dair-community.social and I are over the moon to welcome Naomi Klein to Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 to discuss “AI” and the military industrial complex. Join us for the livestream:
Monday, Feb 9, noon PT,
https://twitch.tv/dair_institute
View on dair-community.social
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Jan 13, 2026
New on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter:
Labeling resistance to "AI" as "denialism" is an attempt to dismiss it out of hand.
The narrative of the denialism frame is that those opposing "AI" are afraid, under-informed and/or engaging in wishful thinking. None of that is true: The people who oppose the "AI" project are actively fighting and refusing to accept the premise of tech bros and AI boosters.
https://buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive/resistance-isnt-denialism/
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Jan 09, 2026
"The media has largely let [tech companies] set the terms of the debate, right down to the terminology used in any discussion of these systems."
From Nanna Inie and me in Tech Policy Press on how to spot and resist anthropomorphizing language in the discourse about so-called "AI".
https://www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-talk-about-how-we-talk-about-ai/
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Jan 07, 2026
Anthropomorphizing language can be cute when applied to your favorite car, but it helps to muddy the discourse when applied to tech sold as "AI", especially given all the boosters and AGI-cult members peddling their nonsense about imminent artificial minds. New from me & Nanna Inie on Tech Policy Press -- how to spot & revise away from anthropomorphizing language applied to "AI":
https://www.techpolicy.press/we-need-to-talk-about-how-we-talk-about-ai/
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Jan 04, 2026
PSA: If someone is posting about behavior being exhausting to the point that they are considering leaving a platform, then doing more of it "as a joke" is neither supportive nor helpful. And also not funny.
(This is re *two separate accounts* making a joke about mansplaining mansplaining to me on a post where I had already been mansplained about how to handle mansplaining.)
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@cstross@wandering.shop
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@cstross@wandering.shop
@emilymbender@dair-community.social The correct response is: "Would you eat shit just because a trillion flies like the stuff?"
Current reply
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Dec 30, 2025
@cstross@wandering.shop I don't disagree with you, but I also don't appreciate how you jumped into the thread where I was giving my response to declare what "the correct response is".
Do you also just talk over people in person?
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Dec 30, 2025
Q: In a world dominated by FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), how can individuals and journalists effectively practice this refusal without being dismissed as 'anti-progress' by the 'AI Boosters' you critique?
>>
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Nov 09, 2025
I appreciate the work of these authors to show that this problem not only is still here but has grown:
But it is also quite frustrating.
🧵>>
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Oct 31, 2025
Really appreciate this review of our book (w/ @alex@dair-community.social
"By insisting on the term “automation,” Bender and Hanna reveal that what’s sold as innovation is often just labor displacement with better branding."
"…a demystifying, often hilarious lexicon that cuts through the fog of hype."
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-return-of-the-luddites/
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Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
Professor, Linguistics, University of Washington Faculty Director, Professional MS Program in Computational Linguistics (CLMS) If we don't know each other, I probably won't reply to your DM. For more, see my contacting me page: http:// faculty.washington.edu/ebender /contact/
dair-community.social
@emilymbender@dair-community.social
·
Apr 04, 2024
Must-read reporting by +972 on how the IDF are using “AI” in their indiscriminate murder in Gaza. It’s horrific, and we must not look away. And it’s an absolute nightmare of the usual sorts of AI harms cranked up to the extreme: mass surveillance, "we don't have any choice but to automate", AI as pretext for deadly violence.
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