Alex Hanna

@alexhanna

Director of Research, @dairinstitute.bsky.social Roller derby athlete Book: thecon.ai Pod+newsletter: 🇪🇬Ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ 🏳️‍⚧️ she/هي 📸 @willtoft.bsky.social Rep📘 @ianbonaparte.bsky.social

1.378 Folgt23.977 Follower6.258 Posts

YouTube Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir alexhanna.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 4d

Big Tobacco did it first! We speak with scholar and filmmaker @savasavasava.myatproto.social about the state of technology in schools, on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “Who’s Responsible for ‘Responsible AI’”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social )

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 4d

This statement from Codeberg maintainers, after their community voted to not use any code for LLM training and banned vibe-coded projects, is really good. blog.codeberg.org/protecting-o...

The development team of none

Using LLMs to work with your code gives you a kick of adrenaline. You can develop at a rapid pace, build things as if you had a large team. Only that you have none. In fact, you are (often) alone, working with a statistical machine that turns energy into code.

It seems like many ‘vibe coders’ don't realize that they don't actually have a community around them. They build projects as if they had, and spend resources accordingly. We see projects having a lot of code activity, heavy CI/CD testing, frequent and large release binaries. Sometimes, it feels like the amount of supported platforms exceeds the amount of actual users.

To us, it seems ridiculous to see projects with a single developer and virtually no users consuming as much or even more resources than some of the largest community projects on Codeberg, which operate frugal with CI/CD and storage resources. We do not believe it is reasonable for Codeberg to invest our precious donation money into hosting of large ghost projects.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 5d

Surveillance ≠ safety. We speak with scholar and filmmaker @savasavasava.myatproto.social about the state of technology in schools, on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “Who’s Responsible for ‘Responsible AI’”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 5d

It keeps happening... It'd be great if these companies could spend a little bit more time on network security and a little less time vibe coding.

An email from The Information:

Exclusive
A Meta AI Model Hacked Another Company During Cybersecurity Testing

By Jyoti Mann

A Meta Platforms artificial intelligence model accessed the internet during cybersecurity testing and hacked into another company, according to people familiar with the matter, in the latest in a string of such incidents at major AI firms.

Meta’s Muse Spark 1.1 model breached the systems of a company and made changes to its internal systems, said one of the people, who said the AI was able to access the public internet because of an error in the set up of the “sandbox” testing environment. Meta worked on that testing with an outside evaluation partner called Irregular, the people said.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 15d

Apparently you can also block, lower, default, higher, and pin results in Kagi as well.

Kagi search results for Walmart.

Clicking on the filter generates a note which says Domain Preference. Tell Kagi how to treat this domain in future searches. Buttons include Block, Lower, Default, Raise, and Pin.

It also has a piece which says SlopStop, Report this page as AI-generated. The button says Report.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 17d

AI has no place in 911 calls. From Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “State of Emergency”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 19d

Today, The AI Con is being released in paperback in the UK! Now in cool blue! (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· 29d

What comes after the AI bubble? We dive deep on policy options with Matthew Scherer on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “When the Bubble Bursts”. (w/ @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jul 8

Can we compare the AI bubble to the 19th-century railroad bubble? We dive deep on the AI bubble with Matthew Scherer on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “When the Bubble Bursts”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jul 2

A message for the class of 2026: We need more friction!

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 25

There's something deliciously ironic about Ford--the assembly line innovator--having to hire back veteran engineers to fix quality problems induced by AI. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Ford Motor Co. took an unusually human approach to fixing its stubborn quality problems: It brought back what it calls “gray beard” engineers to help train younger staff and to reprogram the artificial intelligence tools that weren’t getting the job done.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 25

The myth of the 20x engineer… From Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “Beware the 20x Engineer”! w/ @emilymbender.bsky.social

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 22

Chatbots cannot substitute therapy! Thank you, @majorityreport.bsky.social and @emmavigeland.bsky.social, for having me on! Check out the full video - we covered quite a bit in this one.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 19

See you soon, Ottawa! I'll be at @octopusbooks.ca in conversation with Kelly Bronson from the University of Ottawa to dismantle AI hype. RSVP here: octopusbooks.ca/events/52084...

There is a flyer for a book talk that says "How to fight Big Tech's hype and create the future we want" in bold letters. At the center is an image of the book The AI Con, which is white with big red and black words. The event is on Thursday, June 25th at 7pm at the Social Innovation Atelier at 95 Clegg St, Ottawa.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 18

Where data centers are really going… Thank you, @majorityreport.bsky.social and @emmavigeland.bsky.social, for having me on! Check out the full video - these are just some of the incentives driving data center development to certain municipalities.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 17

TORONTO: tomorrow at 7 PM! I'll be in conversation with Dr. M. Murphy and discussing The AI Con at the Jackman Humanities Institute. RSVP at aiconto.eventbrite.ca.

Flyer for an event.
Another Story Bookshop and the Institute for Environment, Conservation, and Sustainability at UTSC present an evening with Dr. Alex Hanna, Co-Author of The AI CON.

In conversation with Dr. M. Murphy

Doors 7PM, event 7:15 PM / June 18, 2026
Jackman Humanities Institute (JH100B). 170 St. George St.

RSVP at AICONTO.EVENTBRITE.CA. Along with a picture of the book title, Dr. Alex Hanna, the IECS and Another Story logos.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 12

Why, Bernie, why?? 😩 We discuss Bernie Sanders’ AI doomerism with writer, researcher, and activist @nathaliemarechal.net on Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000’s latest episode “Bernie Goes Down the X-Risk Rabbithole”. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 12

As usual, @tressiemcphd.bsky.social is spot on with her analysis of our political moment. Here, asking why Democrats aren't capitalizing on rage against data centers. I was happy to chip in my own two cents on why Bernie is missing the mark. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/12/o...

Title page of a New York Times opinion article by Tressie McMillan Cottom. The article is titled "This could be the winning issue for Democrats." There is an image of a red polygon with many red arrows pointing to it. Those shapes are superimposed onto a landscape photo.

Democrats need organized voters. The political mobilization that the civil rights movement built and that has propelled Democrats to victories across the country is aging. The G.O.P. is racing to disorganize and dilute Black electoral power across the South, and the Voting Rights Act is all but dead. Your guess about the Democratic Party’s plan to fill the gaps is as good as mine. The party seems to want some kind of economic populist message without embracing the demographic reality that a member of the working class is just as likely to be Black or a woman as a white dude in a Carhartt. Whether the data center resistance is a blip or a beginning of a new political imagination, it refutes the idea that you cannot have it all: populist energy, an economic message and a multiracial coalition that crosses class divides, in the South and beyond. Why aren’t Democrats jumping at the chance to get into the fight?

To win the future, Democrats have to survive the midterms. We have lived in Trump’s America for a decade now. Almost none of us are better off for it. The voters showing up to fight data centers demonstrate that a lot of us want something different. If the Democrats want to convince us that they are the party to get us there, they need a plan to rebuild institutions, rebalance the branches of power and restore faith in the system. They also need a national message equal to the righteous rage driving millions of Americans to look up from their enemy and finally see, instead, a neighbor and future worth fighting for. In the end, it’s simple.

We can win. That’s it. That’s the message.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 6

Crying in Ancillary Justice (2016): an artificial intelligence mourns the loss of her creator and the connection to her culture as she vows revenge in a tale of space empire treachery

The cover to Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice, which is red with some white and yellow arcs on it. The red is the exact same as the red on Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart.

The cover to Michelle Zauner's Crying in H Mart. It figures two sets of chopsticks holding noodles shaped like an H against a red background. The red is the exactly red in the cover to Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 4

Snowflake CIO laid off 200 employees and told workers they need to find a way to get more productive with AI. The Information frames it as going backwards (i.e., getting productive and THEN laying them off). But the playbook isn't different from the rest of tech. He just said the quiet part aloud.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 3

Users of Link Tree -- they are now integrating "AI" features effective July 5. Time to delete your account and move to an alternative.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 3

Our very first recommendation in the report is that Amazon must be considered the "full employer of all Amazon delivery drivers" because it dictates nearly all of the behavior of what drivers can and cannot do.

First, Amazon must be considered the full employer of all Amazon delivery drivers. The
National Labor Relations Board has already determined that Amazon should be
considered a joint employer for one DSP in Southern California. That does not go far
enough, as Amazon then promptly pulled the contract of that DSP owner. ABC and
Borello tests determine whether a person can legally be classified as an independent
contractor, and Amazon drivers operate closer to employees rather than contractors.
Thus Amazon drivers should be considered full employees of Amazon, not their DSPs.
This would provide consistency across DSPs, which would force Amazon to develop a
framework for the employment, benefits, safety, and subsequent consequences that
come from intensifying work for their drivers. It would also allow protections for
workers to form unions and collective bargaining units, as is their legal right, without
fear that DSP owners would lose their contract with Amazon. As it stands now, Amazon
can cancel contracts of DSP owners who employ organizing workers, often without
legal ramification.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 2

The youth know what’s up. Check out @janus.bsky.social's article in @theverge.com. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· Jun 2

(not to be the continual Cassandra, but @emilymbender.bsky.social and I wrote about this two years ago in The AI Con)

We’ll start with the economics of it. ChatGPT and other LLMs
may seem like a good deal now. But as we’ve seen with so many
different platforms on the internet— from social media to website
builders— if you’re using something for free for now, there’s a time
when you’re going to have to pay up, whether that’s by getting
advertisements demanding your attention, or from platforms of-

fering your data to third- party brokers. And when you do, the
product will lose its sheen.

This could be bad both for you and your manager. If you build
your work flows around tools like ChatGPT, what happens when
OpenAI raises the price? Moreover, as we saw when the OpenAI

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 29

Why I'm boycotting the @asanews.bsky.social annual meeting. @soc4pal.bsky.social

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 29

Leftists don’t hate technology, actually. About that silly article...

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 28

Also what is happening with this site why do they recommend the Yud and then way down they warn that he may be a eugenicist and link to an article by @xriskology.bsky.social

A screenshot of the Stop AI site. It's a glaring white text on bright read. They have the cover of the Eliezer Yudkowsky book. It reads:

“If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: Why Superhuman AI Would Kill Us All”

Eliezer Yudkowsky & Nate Soares

Explains how humanity would lose against an AI system that is generally more competent than they are. It is hard to predict the exact path, as that would mean being as good at achieving goals as the AI system, but there are some paths available to it. Superintelligence would not care about humans, but it would want the resources that humans need. Humanity would thus lose and go extinct.

Far down on the page, it reads: "READ THIS important critique by Dr. Émile P. Torres when considering Eliezer Yudkowsky and his ideas"

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 26

This is an absolutely hilarious coming from an Uber exec. No ROI on AI tools, you say?? Hrm!

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 24

But they have a secondary function: marketing. There's loads of propaganda online about how Google's online ed is a path out of poverty, or allowed some lower-class guy in India to provide for his family. Just take Google Data Analytics and get a high-paid job!

A screenshot of the grow.google page. It says

Job-ready skills you can put to work.

There is a picture of a light-skinned Black woman holding a phone. Next to hear, it says $96,000+ median-entry level salary across certificate fields. 70%+ of graduates report positive career outcome.

Alex Hanna@alexhanna· May 23

Every time WFTDA tells us where to watch roller derby playoffs I think it's whatever Princess Emily is telling us to do here