The new book AI Snake Oil calls out the major “hype superspreaders” fueling today’s AI bubble:
- Big Tech Companies: Eager to attract investment, tech companies frequently overstate AI’s capabilities. From software firms touting the latest “gen AI” tool as a revolution, to cloud providers bragging about infinite AI compute power, corporate marketing sets unrealistic expectations.
- Researchers and Benchmark Gaming: The academic AI community is not blameless. Pressures to publish and get media attention tempt researchers to overstate findings or game benchmarks. For example, dozens of papers claimed to predict court decisions with high accuracy, but many exploited “data leakage”– e.g., using words from a judge’s opinion that only appear after the decision is known. Once that leak was patched, the predictive power vanished. Always dig into how an AI was evaluated – was it a controlled, rigorous test, or are we looking at inflated numbers?
- Journalists and Media: Sensational headlines often amplify AI myths. Reporters sometimes uncritically reprint company press releases or anthropomorphize AI for clicks. One New York Times column went viral by describing a chatbot that “wanted to be alive.” Narayanan and Kapoor argue that such stories sow public confusion about sentient algorithms that don’t exist. They also criticize “access journalism,” in which tech reporters soften coverage to stay in companies’ good graces. The result: every incremental lab result is hailed as world-changing, while lurid tales of AI misbehavior (often misunderstood) go viral.
- Public Figures and Pundits: Celebrities, CEOs, and even policymakers sometimes spread misleading narratives. Flashy keynotes proclaim that AI will “transform everything,” while doomsayers warn of an imminent robot apocalypse. Grandiose rhetoric usually serves the speaker’s agenda – attracting funding, shaping legislation, or simply grabbing attention.
The full review of AI Snake Oil is available at LLRX.com.