Robert Wright's Nonzero The Case Against AI (Robert Wright, Alex Hanna, and Emily Bender)
Jan 27, 2026
Alex Hanna, sociologist focused on AI’s social effects, and Emily Bender, linguist known for work on language models, discuss skepticism of booster and doomer narratives. They probe who truly benefits from AI, whether it boosts productivity, how LLMs do or do not “understand,” and why prototypes and managerial incentives can spread harmful systems. Conversation highlights risks from surveillance, labor fragmentation, and misleading metaphors.
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Boosters And Doomers Share A Myth
- Emily and Alex argue boosters and doomers share the same myth: AI is inevitable and singular.
- The real problem is what people do in the name of "AI," not a mystical technology itself.
Adoption Can Outpace Actual Usefulness
- Alex distinguishes usefulness from adoption and warns AI can be societally impactful even if not genuinely useful.
- Technologies can spread via hype, network effects, and corporate incentives regardless of real utility.
Ask: Useful To Whom?
- Emily stresses "useful to who?" and that AI often serves management, not workers.
- Promises of individualized services can be used to justify cutting public supports and privatizing costs.
