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AIQuiet 9d · day 10

Bender, Hanna and Muldowney publish reading list to counter "AI doomerism" hype

Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 hosts curate books and papers arguing AI doomer warnings recycle Big Tech's own narrative.

newest coverage 9d agosummary written 9d ago5 pieces552 likes & upvotes14 comments MastodonGoogle NewsHacker News

What to know

  • Bender, Hanna and Muldowney (Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000) published a curated reading list to counter rising anxiety about AI "doomerism".
  • Their central argument: AI doomers and boosters share the same underlying assumption that AI development is inevitable and will produce autonomous, powerful technology — they just disagree on whether that's good or bad.
  • They tie current doomerism to TESCREAL ideologies (via Gebru and Torres's paper) and to Big Tech's own promotional narrative.
  • The piece spread from the original newsletter to Mastodon, Hacker News and Google News aggregation within about a day.

“There's a subculture within the "AI" industry that fervently believes they are building a machine god, possibly a malevolent one, and it's been stirred up recently, either because of yet another "whistleblower" or weird Bannon-to-Bernie coalitions, both talking about an AI apocalypse.”

Bender, Hanna and Muldowney, Authors · Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter ↗ · Sep 16

Emily M. Bender Co-author, MAIHT3K hostAlex Hanna Co-author, MAIHT3K hostDecca Muldowney Co-authorTimnit Gebru Co-author of cited TESCREAL paperÉmile Torres Co-author of cited TESCREAL paper

Bender, Hanna and Muldowney publish reading list to counter "AI doomerism" hype
buttondown.com

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 2 pieces in 3h at Sep 17, 6 PM; 5 pieces over 10 days (2 articles · 3 posts) Sep 17, 6 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 17, 9 AM — quietSep 17, 12 PM — quietSep 17, 3 PM — quietSep 17, 6 PM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 2Sep 17, 9 PM — quietSep 18, 12 AM — quietSep 18, 3 AM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Hacker News 1, Mastodon 1Sep 18, 6 AM — quietSep 18, 9 AM — quietSep 18, 12 PM — quietSep 18, 3 PM — quietSep 18, 6 PM — quietSep 18, 9 PM — quietSep 19, 12 AM — quietSep 19, 3 AM — quietSep 19, 6 AM — quietSep 19, 9 AM — quietSep 19, 12 PM — quietSep 19, 3 PM — quietSep 19, 6 PM — quietSep 19, 9 PM — quietSep 20, 12 AM — quietSep 20, 3 AM — quietSep 20, 6 AM — quietSep 20, 9 AM — quietSep 20, 12 PM — quietSep 20, 3 PM — quietSep 20, 6 PM — quietSep 20, 9 PM — quietSep 21, 12 AM — quietSep 21, 3 AM — quietSep 21, 6 AM — quietSep 21, 9 AM — quietSep 21, 12 PM — quietSep 21, 3 PM — quietSep 21, 6 PM — quietSep 21, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 12 AM — quietSep 22, 3 AM — quietSep 22, 6 AM — quietSep 22, 9 AM — quietSep 22, 12 PM — quietSep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 6 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 23, 12 AM — quietSep 23, 3 AM — quietSep 23, 6 AM — quietSep 23, 9 AM — quietSep 23, 12 PM — quietSep 23, 3 PM — quietSep 23, 6 PM — quietSep 23, 9 PM — quietSep 24, 12 AM — quietSep 24, 3 AM — quietSep 24, 6 AM — quietSep 24, 9 AM — quietSep 24, 12 PM — quietSep 24, 3 PM — quietSep 24, 6 PM — quietSep 24, 9 PM — quietSep 25, 12 AM — quietSep 25, 3 AM — quietSep 25, 6 AM — quietSep 25, 9 AM — quietSep 25, 12 PM — quietSep 25, 3 PM — quietSep 25, 6 PM — quietSep 25, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietToday, 12 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 6 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quietToday, 12 PM — quiet 12
Sep 18Sep 19Sep 20Sep 21Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24Sep 25yesterdaynow · 3:49 PM ET
  1. background

    Bender frames doomerism coverage as "nonsense" on Mastodon — Emily M. Bender promotes the piece on Mastodon, telling followers anxious about AI doomerism coverage that they can dismiss it and return to more pressing concerns, linking to the full list.

  2. 2

    Piece spreads to Hacker News and Google News aggregation

    The newsletter post is picked up and resubmitted on Hacker News and indexed via Google News, extending its reach beyond the original Mastodon posting.

    “[Doomers and Boosters are], counterintuitively, two sides of the same coin: the substance of the coin is the belief that the development of AI is inevitable and that that resulting technology will be both autonomous and powerful, and ultimately beneficial, if we play our cards right.”
    — The AI Con (Bender, Hanna and Muldowney), Authors · source
    • emilymbender@dair-community.social

      All of this coverage of AI Doomerism making you anxious? It's nonsense and you can go back to your more pressing concerns. If you want to learn more: https:// buttondown.com/maiht3k/archive /what-to-read-to-stay-grounded-amidst-ai-doomerism/

      emilymbender@dair-community.socialMastodon9d ago375▲view on Mastodon ↗
  3. 1

    MAIHT3K publishes curated reading list against AI doomerism

    Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna and Decca Muldowney release "What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism" on their Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 newsletter, compiling books, papers and past episodes meant to counter recent doomer narratives stirred up by a "whistleblower" and cross-ideological coalitions.

    “Despite all the noise the AI Doomers are making, the evidence is thin— we'd say even nonexistent— for the scenarios they are raising the alarm about.”
    — The AI Con (Bender, Hanna and Muldowney), p.156
    1. 2 outlets What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism

      first by Mastodon, 9d ago · also Buttondown