After "AI" stopped meaning anything, the hype salesmen moved on to "AI" "agents", those allegedly indefatigable assistants, allegedly capable of operating your software for you -- whether you need to make a restaurant reservation, book a flight, or book a flight to a restaurant reservation. Hugging Face's Margaret Mitchell joins Emily and Alex to help break down what agents actually are, and what to actually worry about.
References:
PwC launches AI agent operating system to revolutionize AI workflows for enterprises
An Open-Source AI Agent for Doing Tasks on the Web
Scale AI announces multimillion-dollar defense deal, a major step in U.S. military automation
Other references:
Why handing over total control to AI agents would be a huge mistake
Fully Autonomous AI Agents Should Not be Developed
Bender vs. Bubeck: The Great Chatbot Debate: Do LLMs Really Understand?
Fresh AI Hell:
DOGE suggests replacing workers with "AI" (of course)
Vape, or the tamagotchi gets it
"AI" for psychotherapy, still bad, still hyped
- Via @Hypervisible
Palate cleanser: "AI is the letdown"
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/27/tech/apple-ai-artificial-intelligence/index.html
Comic relief: "Fortified with AI"
Check out future streams on Twitch. Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.
Our book, 'The AI Con,' is out now! Get your copy now.
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Emily
- Bluesky: emilymbender.bsky.social
- Mastodon: dair-community.social/@EmilyMBender
Alex
- Bluesky: alexhanna.bsky.social
- Mastodon: dair-community.social/@alex
- Twitter: @alexhanna
Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor and Ozzy Llinas Goodman.
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