Episode #79: The AI Con Discussion Panel (Live)

This episode is an audio version of a virtual panel held online via the Linguistic Society of America, on August 16, 2025. This is part two of our conversation on GenAI and linguistics, this time focusing on Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna, Ph.D.’s recent book “The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want.” I am joined again by our amazing panel of linguists to talk about the problems of anthropomorphizing AI, how AI magnifies inequalities affecting minoritized people, and what linguists can do to push back against the constant AI hype.

Panelists: Aubrie Amstutz, Responsible AI Research Scientist at Grid Dynamics Alicia Beckford Wassink, Director of the Sociolinguistics Laboratory and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Washington Katie Swindler, specialist in discourse analysis and sociolinguistics, most recently a Program Manager at Mother Tongue AI and currently freelancing as a consulting linguist

Part 1 of the discussion is here

Topics include – generative AI – ethical AI – AI hype – anthropomorphization – language use – journalism – activism

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