Audio only
The AI Con
How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We WantBy Emily M. Bender, Alex HannaNarrated by Jade WheelerLength7h 50m
About this audiobook
A smart, incisive look at the technologies sold as artificial intelligence, the drawbacks and pitfalls of technology sold under this banner, and why it’s crucial to recognize the many ways in which AI hype covers for a small set of power-hungry actors at work and in the world.
Is artificial intelligence going to take over the world? Have big tech scientists created an artificial lifeform that can think on its own? Is it going to put authors, artists, and others out of business? Are we about to enter an age where computers are better than humans at everything?
The answer to these questions, linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna make clear, is “no,” “they wish,” “LOL,” and “definitely not.” This kind of thinking is a symptom of a phenomenon known as “AI hype.” Hype looks and smells fishy: It twists words and helps the rich get richer by justifying data theft, motivating surveillance capitalism, and devaluing human creativity in order to replace meaningful work with jobs that treat people like machines. In The AI Con, Bender and Hanna offer a sharp, witty, and wide-ranging take-down of AI hype across its many forms.
Bender and Hanna show you how to spot AI hype, how to deconstruct it, and how to expose the power grabs it aims to hide. Armed with these tools, you will be prepared to push back against AI hype at work, as a consumer in the marketplace, as a skeptical newsreader, and as a citizen holding policymakers to account. Together, Bender and Hanna expose AI hype for what it is: a mask for Big Tech’s drive for profit, with little concern for who it affects.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.7 (1.7K)
Includes Goodreads
GenreTechnology, Business and Economics
Length7 hrs 50 mins
Narrated byJade Wheeler
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateMay 13, 2025
LanguageEnglish
When the Heavens Went on SaleAshlee Vance18h 20m4.4 (3K)$40 · $0.00
Everybody Has a Podcast (Except You)Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Griffin McElroy5h 9m4.3 (2.3K)$24 · $0.00
Hands of TimeRebecca Struthers8h 8m4.4 (1.3K)$26 · $0.00
Never Lost AgainBill Kilday10h 1m4.4 (805)$29 · $0.00
How the Internet HappenedBrian McCullough13h 28m4.3 (2.7K)$23 · $0.00
Collected Writings of Nikola TeslaNikola Tesla, Thomas Commerford Martin21h 50m4.3 (1.7K)$1 · $0.00
Just AspireAjai Chowdhry9h 13m4.4 (260)$29 · $0.00
The Little Book of AliensAdam Frank8h 20m4.3 (1.3K)$26 · $0.00
The inventions, researches and writings of Nikola Tesla (Annotated)Thomas Commerford Martin16h 59m4.3 (1.3K)$2 · $0.00
KargilV.P. Malik15h 18m4.3 (2K)$24 · $0.00
Experiments with Alternating CurrentsNikola Tesla9h 16m4.3 (874)$1.99 · $0.00
Fire on the HorizonTom Shroder, John Konrad8h 23m4.3 (858)$26 · $0.00
The Smell of Kerosene (Annotated)National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Donald L. Mallick, Peter W. Merlin11h 32m4.3 (523)$2 · $0.00
The Boy Who Harnessed the WindWilliam Kamkwamba, Bryan Mealer10h 5m4.2 (78.9K)$29 · $0.00
Across the Airless WildsEarl Swift10h 8m4.3 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Console WarsBlake J. Harris20h 41m4.2 (13.7K)$46 · $0.00
Improvised Munitions HandbookU.S. Department of Defense4h 49m4.3 (1.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
Escaping GravityLori Garver10h 54m4.2 (2.2K)$20 · $0.00
Wireless WarsJonathan Pelson8h 2m4.3 (418)$20 · $0.00
Let There Be WaterSeth M. Siegel8h 36m4.2 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
Never Split the DifferenceChris Voss, Tahl Raz8h 7m4.4 (277.7K)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Rev Ed.Benjamin Graham17h 48m4.3 (191.5K)$40 · $0.00
The Hard Thing About Hard ThingsBen Horowitz7h 57m4.2 (134.3K)$26 · $0.00
Boundaries for LeadersHenry Cloud7h 36m4.3 (3.6K)$26 · $0.00
BuildTony Fadell11h 5m4.5 (14.3K)$8 · $0.00
The Joys Of CompoundingGautam Baid17h 34m4.5 (2.5K)$18 · $0.00
Basic EconomicsThomas Sowell18h 32m4.5 (29.3K)$28 · $0.00
Poor Charlie’s AlmanackGrover Gardener, Charles T. Munger13h 9m4.5 (24.7K)$18 · $0.00
The Ambuja StoryNarotam Sekhsaria13h 59m4.5 (830)$33 · $0.00
The Secret Door to SuccessFlorence Scovel Shinn2h 25m4.5 (2.1K)$1.20 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
Big TrustShadé Zahrai, Fayçal Sekkouah8h 36m4.6 (406)$26 · $0.00
The Intelligent Investor Third EditionBenjamin Graham, Jason Zweig20h4.4 (156.6K)$46 · $0.00
Bottle of LiesKatherine Eban14h 25m4.4 (12K)$33 · $0.00
The Antiracist Business BookTrudi Lebrón6h 10m4.6 (275)$17 · $0.00
The FormulaJoshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg10h 41m4.4 (6.9K)$29 · $0.00
Let Them LeadJohn U. Bacon7h 10m4.5 (1.4K)$24 · $0.00
Secrets of the Millionaire MindT. Harv Eker5h 11m4.4 (301.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Person You Mean to BeDolly Chugh9h 6m4.4 (7.2K)$29 · $0.00
BoundlessNick Kostov, Sean McLain9h 17m4.5 (1.1K)$29 · $0.00
You may also like
System ErrorRob Reich, Mehran Sahami, Jeremy M. Weinstein11h 29m4.0 (1.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Hour of the PredatorGiuliano da Empoli3h 9m4.2 (5.6K)$5 · $0.00
More Than WordsJohn Warner7h 46m4.0 (513)$23
Big DataViktor Mayer-Schönberger, Kenneth Cukier9h 41m4.0 (27.3K)$29 · $0.00
Ignorance Is Strengthvarious authors, John Joseph Adams, Hugh Howey, Christie Yant11h 32m4.2 (301)$20
AI ValleyGary Rivlin11h 18m4.1 (452)$29 · $0.00
AngrynomicsEric Lonergan, Mark Blyth5h 4m4.0 (2.3K)$15 · $0.00
The Exponential AgeAzeem Azhar9h 44m4.0 (1.6K)$20 · $0.00
Planet GoogleRandall Stross7h 44m3.7 (1.8K)$17 · $0.00
Sceptical Essays (Annotated)Bertrand Russell9h 16m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
American Health — Who Gets PaidRobin Blackstone MD1h 31m$15
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE GLOBAL SOUTHGATHU KAMAU2h 1m4.8 (54)$4.99 · $0.00
No More WorkJames Livingston3h 16m3.7 (449)$15
The Information TradeAlexis Wichowski8h 56m3.9 (156)$29 · $0.00
Think Like a HumanDavid Weitzner8h 36m4.1 (16)$26 · $0.00
Mother of InventionKatrine Marçal6h 54m$17 · $0.00
Code RedWynton Hall8h 21m4.3 (72)$24 · $0.00
Doctor AI Reimagining Healthcare Rebuilding Trust Delivering Health 4.0Robin Blackstone MD11h 3m$25
Against the Written WordIan F. Svenonius6h 3m4.0 (95)$17 · $0.00
Beyond the ValleyRamesh Srinivasan12h 34m4.0 (186)$23 · $0.00