Not only is OpenAI's new o3 model allegedly breaking records for how close an LLM can get to the mythical "human-like thinking" of AGI, but Sam Altman has some, uh, reflections for us as he marks two years since the official launch of ChatGPT. Emily and Alex kick off the new year unraveling these truly fantastical stories.

References:

OpenAI o3 Breakthrough High Score on ARC-AGI-Pub

From the blog of Sam Altman: Reflections

More about the ARC Prize

o3's environmental impact

The brain is a computer is a brain

Fresh AI Hell:

"Time to Edit" as a metric predicting the singularity (Contributed by Warai Otoko)

AI 'tasting' colors

An AI...faucet??

Seattle Public Schools calls ChatGPT a "transformative technology"

A GitHub pull request closed because change would have been unfriendly to "AI" chat interface

Cohere working with Palantir

Elsevier rewrites papers with "AI" without telling authors, editors

The UK: mainlining AI straight into their veins

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

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Emily

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Alex

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• Twitter: @alexhanna

Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park.
Production by Christie Taylor.

It’s been a long year in the AI hype mines. And no matter how many claims Emily and Alex debunk, there's always a backlog of Fresh AI Hell. This week, another whirlwind attempt to clear it, with plenty of palate cleansers along the way.

Fresh AI Hell:

Part I: Education
Medical residency assignments
"AI generated" UCLA course
"Could ChatGPT get an engineering degree?"
AI letters of recommendation
Chaser: 'AI' isn't Tinkerbell and we don’t have to clap

Part II: Potpourri, as in really rotten
AI x parenting
Et tu, Firefox?
US military tests AI machine gun
"Over-indexing" genAI failings
AI denying social benefits
Chaser: AI 'granny' vs scammers

Part III: The Endangered Information Ecosystem
Fake Emily quote in LLM-written article
Protecting Wikipedia
AI: the new plastic
Google AI on 'dressing'
"AI" archaeology
Misinfo scholar used ChatGPT
OpenAI erases lawsuit evidence
LAT "AI" bias meter
WaPo AI search: The Washington Post burns its own archive

Chaser: ShotSpotter as art

Part IV: Surveillance, AI in science/medicine
Apple patents "body data"
Chatbots "defeat" doctors
Algorithm for healthcare "overuse"
"AI friendships"
"Can LLMs Generate Novel Research Ideas?"
Another LLM for science
Chaser: FTC vs Venntel

Part V: They tell us to believe the hype

Thomas Friedman: AGI is coming
Matteo Wong on o1's 'reasoning'
WIRED editor: believe the hype
Salesforce CEO: The "unlimited age"

Chaser: Emily and Alex's forthcoming book! Pre-order THE AI CON: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' comes out in May! Pre-order now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

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.

Once upon a time, artificial general intelligence was the only business plan OpenAI seemed to have. Tech journalist Brian Merchant joins Emily and Alex for a time warp to the beginning of the current wave of AI hype, nearly a decade ago. And it sure seemed like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and company were luring investor dollars to their newly-formed venture solely on the hand-wavy promise that someday, LLMs themselves would figure out how to turn a profit.

Brian Merchant is an author, journalist in residence at the AI Now Institute, and co-host of the tech news podcast System Crash.

References:

Elon Musk and partners form nonprofit to stop AI from ruining the world

How Elon Musk and Y Combinator Plan to Stop Computers From Taking Over

Elon Musk's Billion-Dollar AI Plan Is About Far More Than Saving the World

Brian’s recent report on the business model of AGI, for the AI Now Institute: AI Generated Business: The rise of AGI and the rush to find a working revenue model

Previously on MAIHT3K: Episode 21: The True Meaning of 'Open Source' (feat. Sarah West and Andreas Liesenfeld)

Fresh AI Hell:

OpenAI explores advertising as it steps up revenue drive

If an AI company ran Campbell's Soup with the same practices they use to handle data

Humans are the new 'luxury item'

Itching to write a book? AI publisher Spines wants to make a deal

A company pitched Emily her own 'verified avatar'

Don't upload your medical images to chatbots

A look at a pilot program in Georgia that uses 'jailbots' to track inmates

Check out future streams at on Twitch, Meanwhile, send us any AI Hell you see.

Our book, 'The AI Con,' comes out in May! Pre-order now.

Subscribe to our newsletter via Buttondown.

Follow us!

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.