After many months of making fun of the term "vibe coding," Emily and Alex tackle the LLMs-as-coders fad head-on, with help from security researcher Susanna Cox. From one person's screed that proclaims everyone not on the vibe-coding bandwagon to be crazy, to the grandiose claim that LLMs could be the "opposable thumb" of the entire world of computing. It's big yikes, all around.

Susanna Cox is a consulting AI security researcher and a member of the core author team at OWASP AI Exchange.

References:

My AI Skeptic Friends Are All Nuts

LLMs: the opposable thumb of computing

A disastrous day in the life of a vibe coder

Also referenced:

Signal president Meredith Whittaker on the fundamental security problem with agentic AI

The "S" in MCP stands for security

Our Opinions Are Correct: The Turing Test is Bullshit

AI Hell:

Sam Altman: The (gentle) singularity is already here

What do the boosters think reading is, anyway?

Meta's climate model made up fake CO2 removal ideas

Ongoing lawsuit means all your ChatGPT conversations will be saved

"Dance like you're part of the training set"

Some Guy tries to mansplain Signal to…Signal's president

WSJ headline claims ChatGPT "self-reflection", gets dunked

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

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Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor.

The chatbot boosters are looking for educators to play brand ambassador for more intrusion of so-called "AI" into the classroom. From the American Federation of Teachers' new partnership with OpenAI and Microsoft for a "national academy for AI instruction" to yet more articles extolling the alleged time-saving and future-proofing virtues of LLM-powered ed tech, the hype can feel relentless. Charles Logan joins Alex and Emily for a critical look at the latest propaganda for "AI" in the classroom.

Charles Logan is a former English teacher and current PhD candidate in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University.

References:

Welcome to Campus. Here’s Your ChatGPT.

AI isn’t replacing student writing – but it is reshaping it

AFT to Launch National Academy for AI Instruction with Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic and United Federation of Teachers

Also referenced:

Tressie McMillan Cottom on "predatory inclusion"

Daniel Greene's "The Access Doctrine"

The Group Chats that Changed America

Fresh AI Hell:

Missouri AG investigating why chatbots don’t like Trump

Gig workers calling ICE on other undocumented gig workers

Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI

USF makes a PTSD detector...trained on children

People falling in love with Replika chatbots

Elon Musk thirsting over xAI anime construct

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor.

It's finally here! The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want hit the shelves in May. In this special bonus episode, Alex and Emily speak to tech journalist Vauhini Vara at one of the book's online launch events, where they covered the misleading nature of the term "artificial intelligence," why the use of tools like ChatGPT will only ever cheapen human labor and enrich the already powerful, and how people can fight the narrative that these technologies are inevitable.

Vauhini Vara is a technology reporter and writer. Her journalism has been honored by the Asian American Journalists Association, the International Center for Journalists, the McGraw Center for Business Journalism, and others. Her latest book is Searches: Selfhood in the Digital Age, a work of journalism and memoir about how big technology companies are exploiting human communication — and how we’re complicit in this.

References

Everyone is cheating their way through college (with ChatGPT)

The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World by Allison Pugh

Te Hiku Media

Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence by Dan McQuillan

Refusing Generative AI in Writing Studies

Pennsylvania's SEIU Local 668 wins a victory against AI

Elon Musk's xAI is polluting Black Memphis residents

Possible Futures: An Internet for Our Elders

Better Images of AI

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

Emily

• Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender

Alex

• Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
• Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor.