169 reviews for:

The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want

Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna

4.1 AVERAGE

wavdl's review against another edition

4.25

medium-paced

buchino's review against another edition

5.0

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Clear af examination of the AI grift.

gratusd's review against another edition

5.0

informative medium-paced

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This is a must read book for 2025 to get some well researched alternative views on LLM based AI.

douchegordijn's review against another edition

4.25

dark hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

dew2024's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

ecross_poppy's review against another edition

4.0

informative

parenthetically's review against another edition

3.0

informative slow-paced

shays's review against another edition

3.5

informative medium-paced

annsophia's review against another edition

2.75

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This book had a lot of potential. As someone who sees AI creeping into every facet of life, I wrestle with the imbalance it can create. The book highlighted plenty of that but it just wasn’t compelling enough. AI, machine learning, large language models… they’re not going anywhere. What I wanted was a deeper look at how we could incorporate them into our lives in smarter, more ethical ways.

It touched on that, sure, but there was no room for nuance. It felt very black and white. I wanted to finish this and hand it to friends saying, “This is why we can’t depend on AI as much as we do.” The points were solid, but they got lost in the shuffle. It could have benefited from a journalist’s touch... something to hook me and keep me turning pages.

Instead, it often felt dry, bogged down in research, one-sided opinions, and a lack of flexibility. I don’t think we should depend on AI as heavily as we are. But it’s here to stay, and the real question is: how do we find balance? This book doesn’t really answer that.

gem3z's review against another edition

5.0

informative reflective fast-paced