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This new book is a one-sided attempt to puncture the AI bubble

The AI Con by Emily Bender and Alex Hanna wants to expose the hype generated by large artificial intelligence companies, but it is a frustrating read

By Alex Wilkins

19 May 2025

Signage of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is seen during the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit in Mumbai, India, on May 02, 2025. (Photo by Indranil Aditya / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by INDRANIL ADITYA/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

AI takes centre stage at the World Audio Visual Entertainment Summit in Mumbai, India

Indranil Aditya/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The AI Con
Emily Bender and Alex Hanna (Bodley Head (UK); Harper (US))

An alternative history of Silicon Valley can be told not through its successes – products like the iPhone, Facebook or Google – but through its scams, like Theranos’s faulty blood tests or FTX’s dodgy crypto accounts. From a bird’s eye view, these companies’ stories share a formula: invent a world-changing idea, generate hype, convince investors of potential, and then expand as far and fast as possible.…

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