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Alex Hanna

@alexhanna.bsky.social
25K followers 1.4K following 6.6K posts

Director of Research, @dairinstitute.bsky.social Book: thecon.ai Pod+newsletter: dair-institute.org/maiht3k alex-hanna.com 🇪🇬Ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ 🏳️‍⚧️ she/هي 📸 @willtoft.bsky.social Rep📘 @ianbonaparte.bsky.social

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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Excited to announce that I've signed a contract with @mitpress.bsky.social for a new book! It's about ImageNet, a dataset of 14 million photos. Without it, we likely wouldn't have "AI" as we currently know it. I've been thinking about this book for over 5 years, and am excited to finally write it.
Screenshot of a deal report from Publishers Marketplace that reads: “Coauthor of AI CON and cohost of the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast Alex Hanna’s NET WORKS: IMAGENET AND THE CREATION OF THE MODERN AI DATASET, on the labor behind ImageNet’s cache of 14 million photos from the early aughts that became the backbone of AI datasets, to Rachel Moore at MIT Press (world).
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Matt Binder @mattbinder.bsky.social · 1h
the tech industry is about to invent books
Andrew Yeung 
@andruyeung
X.com
We created gyms because modern day work no
longer required physical activity. Without exercise,
our muscles atrophy.
I predict we'll need gyms for our brains too, once Al
starts doing our knowledge work.
10:53 PM • 10/4/26 • 1.3M Views
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MediaJustice @mediajustice.bsky.social · 1h
Last week we held an engaging panel and @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social screening at #OaklandTechWeek. ~100 folks showed out to ask what it looks like for Oakland to decide its own tech future. Read Oakland North's piece that details what our panelists had to say: oaklandnorth.net/2026/10/04/g...
oaklandnorth.net
MediaJustice brings AI governance fight to Oakland with screening of ‘Ghost in the Machine’ - Oakland North
Investigative documentary Ghost in the Machine explores how underserved communities can govern AI’s footprint.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 4h
Join @dairinstitute.bsky.social for the launch of our new resource, an archive of 2010s higher ed protest in the U.S. and Canada, designed for campus activists and others working on left and liberatory organizing. Oct 20, 9am PT / 12pm ET Register: bit.ly/decade-of-campus-protest
Event poster with a white background and black text, with the title "A Decade of Mass Campus Protests, Website Launch Event". At the bottom is a photo of a long line of people marching on a sidewalk in winter clothing, holding blue and white picket signs that say "On Legal Strike" in capital letters and "University of Toronto" at the bottom.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 5h
"can't, social obligation" god masculinity is a prison
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 6h
Tonight! @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social Documentary on @deadline.com 's For the Love of Docs: deadline.swoogo.com/ftlodghostin... @alexhanna.bsky.social and I join director Valerie Veatch for a panel discussion.
deadline.swoogo.com
Begin Registration
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Logan @bulklogan.bsky.social · 22h
Wendy Carlos in front of a synthesizer with 50 bazillion wires and knobs
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Paper and Ink @paperandink.bsky.social · 21h
Any one need a microfilm scanner? Our library will scrap one on Saturday. It works. All our stuff is digitized. You pay for shipping or come pick it up near Erie,PA.
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 23h
Can I write a letter to the laptop company asking for a non-copilot version of their product?
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Mike Drucker @mikedrucker.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just saw someone say their AI runs their fantasy football team and I can’t stop laughing. Like, I’m sure everyone’s doing it or something but it’s very funny to me that pretending to be a team manager was so hard that you needed to pretend to pretend to be a team manager
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David Kaib @davidkaib.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The idea that better things aren’t possible is fertile soil for reactionary politics.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just finished a trans novel that I didn't really enjoy And I think I need someone to write a transfeminine theory of the state.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Feeling like I can get through a workday with a full night of sleep and a Valks win. We should beat the Aces as a Sunday matinee every week.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 05/10/2026
“‘Mark, we have two minutes left. I want to be respectful, but I’d like to move on and talk a little bit about the future and what’s coming,’ the publicist said.”
theverge.com
OpenAI PR tells journalist to ‘move on’ while asking Sam Altman about a ChatGPT user’s suicide
“I’d like to move on and talk a little bit about the future,” the publicist said.
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Mara Wilson @marawilson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
I don’t think I’m ever going to get the appeal of pivoting to video for podcasts. I’ve been listening to podcasts for 20 years, and never once have I thought, my God, I need to SEE these people! I’m on a walk or doing the dishes, I don’t need video. 
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JS Tan @js-tan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Excited to speak with @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social later today! Tune in!
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The Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
🎧Today on the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream🎧: @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social will be chatting to @js-tan.bsky.social and Clarissa Redwine, the authors of Against Tech Oligarchy, about tech industry labor: Tune in: Mon, Oct 5, noon Pacific twitch.tv/dair_institute
twitch.tv
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). — dair_institute streams live on Twitch! Check out their videos, sign up to chat, and join their community.
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Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Good to see reporters calling what's happening in San Francisco what it really is: Surveillance maximalism. The leadership of the city sees no problem they can't solve by defunding resources that prevent crime and pouring all their money, plus all the money offered by billionaires, into policing.
sfstandard.com
‘Surveillance maximalism’: SFPD uses camera technology Israelis used to track Palestinians
BriefCam uses AI to analyzes hours of video inside the Real Time Investigative Center. Critics say the technology is just as invasive as facial recognition.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Still watching The Pitt. The medical procedural as copaganda, and so on and so on
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
On the next Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 livestream, we’re so excited to chat with authors of the new book, Against Tech Oligarchy! @js-tan.bsky.social and Clarissa Redwine will join me and @alexhanna.bsky.social to chat about tech industry labor: Mon, Oct 5, noon Pacific twitch.tv/dair_institute
twitch.tv
dair_institute - Twitch
Twitch account for The Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). — dair_institute streams live on Twitch! Check out their videos, sign up to chat, and join their community.
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Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
AI companies are “industry-defining corporations reshaping our workplaces, our schools, our communities. Holding them accountable could start with calling them out for what they are — and what they aren’t,” Matthew Sun writes. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
theatlantic.com
There’s No Such Thing as an AI ‘Lab’
The term lends an air of scientific rigor to what are really billion-dollar corporations.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
“AI” won’t solve Indigenous peoples’ healthcare gaps. @emilymbender.bsky.social and I speak with Keoni Mahelona, CTO of Te Hiku Media, about his work on Indigenous data sovereignty, and why it’s worth being skeptical when the “AI" industry says it cares about preserving Indigenous languages.
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Data & Society @datasociety.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The Community-Centered AI infrastructure Summit is live streaming today! Tune in NOW to see D&S's @mwoluchem.bsky.social's keynote and stay for more on the opportunities, challenges, and governance of AI infrastructure development in Pennsylvania. communityaisummit.org
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Tim Carmody @tcarmody.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever
A tweet by SarahStarberry that says "oh god read the vertical axis" on top of a chart measuring AI models' release dates and model numbers rather than any real capabilities
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United Tech & Allied Workers @utaw.tech · 02/10/2026
7000 members and counting 🎈The UK's original and largest trade union for tech workers has hit a new membership milestone, with 7,000 active members joining our branch to fight for better conditions for workers in tech, and for more responsible deployment of the tech we build.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I forgot the BlueSky devs were doing Roko's Basilisk
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Indigenous languages are often hidden to LLMs, for good reason. We speak with Keoni Mahelona about his work on Indigenous data sovereignty, and why it’s worth being skeptical when the “AI" industry says it cares about preserving Indigenous languages. (with @emilymbender.bsky.social)
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
New from @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me: "It is high time for us to regulate usage of systems sold as “AI”, not because they are magical machines, but because they are error-prone products that shouldn’t be used in high stakes scenarios." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
What a thrill to get to interview Keoni Mahelona of Te Hiku Media for Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000! www.buzzsprout.com/2126417/epis... Keoni, @alexhanna.bsky.social and I had a wonderful conversation about technosolutionism and colonialism in language technology.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
do men understand the extent to which women are ready to burn it all down right now
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The Distributed AI Research (DAIR) Institute @dairinstitute.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
We're thrilled to announce that DAIR's @timnitgebru.blacksky.app is a 2026 Right Livelihood Laureate! Thank you, @rightlivelihood.org, for spotlighting how we can challenge power within the AI industry and build tech futures rooted in justice, human needs, and human creativity.
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MediaJustice @mediajustice.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Our opening day of #OaklandTechWeek is underway. Kicking off with a panel conversation about the real history of AI with @alexhanna.bsky.social, Dr. Thema Monroe-White, and @sambiddle.com moderated by @stevenrenderos.bsky.social. Thank you to The New Parkway theater for hosting us. #noAI
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
On October 3, 2013, 368 people lost their lives in the Lampedusa shipwreck. This Thursday, join @dairinstitute.bsky.social's "Refugees, Migrants, and AI" project for an event commemorating those who died and asking why Lampedusa keeps happening. us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Flyer for DAIR virtual event on October 1, 2026 from 6-8PM CET. It reads 'Join DAIR as we commemorate the 2013 Lampedusa tragedy and ask, "What would it take for technology to protect people on the move, rather than deepen the risks they already face?"'

It features images of four people: Meron Estefanos, Dr. Selam Kidane, Dr. Omer Shatz, Dr. Hyab Yoahnnes
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Just learned that AIES is right before WFTDA champs in Malmo, for the five of you here that are into both AI ethics and roller derby.
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Jed Brown @jedbrown.org · 29/09/2026
Yes, or what labor remains domestic (and it is substantial) becomes more contingent, lower status, and more fungible, thus harder to unionize. And that's before getting to the unpaid labor offloaded to society.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
and yet, trans people cannot go to the bathroom there
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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This is the article I most vividly remember. A sympathetic portrait of mothers defending their sons who were “not falsely accused” but “wrongly accused.” They were fighting for impunity for rapists. It ran the week #MeToo went viral.
nytimes.com
‘Willing to Do Everything,’ Mothers Defend Sons Accused of Sexual Assault (Published 2017)
Some of the mothers met with Education Secretary Betsy DeVos before she changed the rules on how colleges should handle accusations.
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Television history that matters.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
White trans women, please knock this shit off.
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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I've talked to a few journal editors who are concerned about similar problems re: anonymous reviewers. If a peer reviewer wants a little help & feeds your unpublished submission into an AI system, they've just shared your proprietary work & broken confidentiality. A nightmare to think about
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The underappreciated point here is that taking the messy, contingent nature of scheduling, communication, and navigating social relationships is something that AI people think these tools can do. When in fact it is quite difficult and takes a lot of social skill.
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Should I go to law school
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Wages were won through people power. We dispel 5 common myths in my new video, Myths Around AI and Productivity, based on the work we’ve been doing at @dairinstitute.bsky.social with The Luddite Lab. Full video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BO0...
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Protest sign on Berkeley bridge above I-80 says BE LIKE MACKLEMORE and I'd rather not!!
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
"Why do we wait for those carrying the batons to confess when our bruised bodies tell the whole truth?" - Mohammed El-Kurd
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I'm afraid the Doomer discourse has persisted for another week (UN "AI" briefing, etc) so in case you missed this when we first put it out earlier in this bananas news cycle, I'm reposting it: buttondown.com/maiht3k/arch... w/ @alexhanna.bsky.social and @deccamuldowney.bsky.social
buttondown.com
What To Read To Stay Grounded Amidst AI Doomerism
Our recommendations for the anxious and perplexed By: Emily M. Bender, Alex Hanna and Decca Muldowney There’s a subculture within the “AI” industry that...
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 26/09/2026
No but literally and seriously
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
God forbid a girl be slightly awake for two to eight hours of torturous autistic masking
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
When Coxon was suddenly ALL OVER the media, it felt to many like that was because his story deserved that much interest i.e. that the media was doing its job informing the public of an important threat. The wall-to-wall media coverage wasn't organic though, it was orchestrated: >>
piratewires.com
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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Every few weeks I think about the original chorus of Arab Money and chuckle
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