AI Con

I was so excited to read this book. In a sea of people singing the praises of "AI", Emily Bender was a breath of fresh air when I came across her on a podcast some months ago, echoing my sentiments.

When I picked up this book, I was looking for language and stories to have the difficult conversations about "AI" and how I don't believe it to be the wonderful godsend everyone around me seems to think it is.

Thankfully, I did get some of that. I have started to have those conversations. The observation in the intro that "AI" is simply a marketing umbrella term covering many different types of automation has been an especially useful way to frame those conversations.

But gosh, the book could have been so much better. It was really hard for me to understand and absorb. I suspect that paragraphs with more than one main idea contributed to that, as well as a lack of organisation of thoughts into clear themes. Others have mentioned that it'd be improved with more headings and sub-headings, and I agree. I feel like the rage against the machine interfered with clear articulation of thoughts.

It's worth reading, especially if, like me, you feel like a terribly lonely voice shouting into the clamor. It gives a good starting point. But I will need to read more widely to get the outcome I was after: an ability to clearly articulate the harms that "AI" is causing in the present, and the lack of useful outcomes that may justify those harms.

A mild disappointment.