Few people understand language quite like today's guest. Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Computational Linguistics at the University of Washington.
She's also the person who coined the term 'Stochastic Parrots' in the now infamous paper that saw Google fire its Ethical AI lead; and the co-author of The AI Con, a book which is unflinching in its criticism of both AI boosterism and doomerism (in fact she objects to the term AI).
I sat down with Emily to discuss topics such as:
- How language really works
- What LLMs are actually doing
- What Stochastic Parrots really means
- Why doomers and boosters are two sides of the same, misleading coin
Where else you can listen
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@HumansintheLoopPod
Apple podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/humans-in-the-loop/id1831285114
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4BbslJR0KA5bfqrcYRhJER?si=b5a46211098b4f3e
Or wherever you get your podcasts!
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to AI and Linguistics
02:54 Understanding Computational Linguistics
05:47 The Stochastic Parrots Paper
08:32 The Implications of AI Terminology
10:57 Skepticism Towards AI Claims
12:58 The Illusion of Intelligence in AI
15:55 The Dangers of AI in Professional Settings
18:33 Democratization and Distrust in AI Development
28:02 Doomers vs. Boosters: The AI Narrative
32:57 Skepticism in AI: A Personal Journey
36:30 The Rapid Evolution of AI: Are We Outdated?
40:13 The Role of Software Engineering in AI
48:14 Automation vs. Human Expertise: A Balancing Act
53:02 Geopolitical Narratives: The AI Arms Race
56:33 The Future of AI: Regulation and Ethical Use
57:44 Pride in Expertise: Understanding Our Value
Get in touch
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Email: seb@theuncommonfounder.com
Website: https://www.theuncommonfounder.com