The Office of Public Lectures presents: The AI Con with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna

Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna

Emily M. Bender 
Professor of Linguistics and Adjunct Professor in the School of Computer Science and the Information School, University of Washington

Emily M. Bender is a Professor of Linguistics and an Adjunct Professor in both the School of Computer Science and the Information School at the University of Washington, where she has been a faculty member since 2003. Her research spans multilingual grammar engineering, computational semantics, and the societal impacts of language technology. 

She has co-authored several influential works, including Climbing Towards NLU: On Meaning, Form, and Understanding in the Age of Data (ACL 2020) and On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? (FAcct 2021). Most recently, she co-authored the book The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want with sociologist Dr. Alex Hanna, critically examining the narratives surrounding artificial intelligence. 

Through her public scholarship, Bender applies linguistic expertise to expose the misconceptions about “AI,” helping audiences better understand the actual capabilities of these technologies. In recognition of her contributions, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2022. In 2023, she was included in the inaugural TIME 100 AI list, highlighting individuals shaping conversations about AI’s impact on the world.  

Alex Hanna
Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

Alex Hanna is the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a sociologist whose work explores the data behind computational technologies and its role in deepening racial, gender, and class inequalities. She also studies social movements, focusing on anti-racist campus protests in the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Hanna holds degrees in computer science, mathematics, and sociology from Purdue University and earned her MS and PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

She is the co-author of The AI Con (Harper, 2025), a critical examination of artificial intelligence and the hype surrounding it. Alongside linguist Emily M. Bender, she co-hosts Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, a lively, incisive series on Twitch and podcast platforms that deconstructs AI industry narratives. 

Dr. Hanna’s research has been published in top-tier social science journals, including Mobilization, American Behavioral Scientist, and Big Data & Society, as well as leading computer science conferences such as CSCW, FAccT, and NeurIPS. She serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies and is an advisory board member for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group. 

Recognized for her contributions, Dr. Hanna has received the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Forward Award, been named to FastCompany’s Queer 50 list (2021, 2024), and featured on Business Insider’s AI Power List. She was also highlighted in the Cal Academy of Sciences New Science exhibit, which celebrates queer and trans scientists of color.