Alex Hanna

Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute

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

Articles & links

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...

Opinion | This Could Be the Winning Issue for Democrats nytimes.com
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Alex Hanna reposted
Charles Logan @charleswlogan.bsky.social

What a day for AI resistance resources! 1) The AI Resist List from @karenhao.bsky.social and colleagues at DAIR at airesistlist.org 2) The Luddite Lab from @alexhanna.bsky.social and colleagues at DAIR at labor.dair-institute.org

The AI Resist List airesistlist.org
AI Weekly's analysis
  • Karen Hao launched the AI Resist List on the one-year anniversary of her book Empire of AI as a publicly accessible, community-contributed database.
  • The database organizes entries by 'Pillars of Support' sustaining AI empires, a framework adapted from Choose Democracy's authoritarianism resistance model.
  • Entries span labor actions, legal challenges, and grassroots campaigns across gig work, healthcare, education, and law enforcement sectors.
Read full analysis →
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Alex Hanna reposted
Brian Merchant @bcmerchant.bsky.social

NPR has a 'Word of the Week' series, and this week it's LUDDITE I spoke with Emma Bowman about who they really were and about the new luddites organizing against big tech + AI A fun one and, since it's airing on All Things Considered, maybe the biggest-audience luddite rehabil…

npr.org View on Bluesky →

Today @dairinstitute.bsky.social is releasing the Luddite Lab Resource Hub. The hub hosts case studies, resources, and political education for unions, labor organizations, and workers who want to fight “AI” and automation at work. labor.dair-institute.org

Luddite Lab labor.dair-institute.org
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Alex Hanna reposted
@amandakhurley.bsky.social

Amazon and Google just reported emissions jumps of 16% and 18%, respectively, in 2025 compared to 2024. The main driver is not hard to guess: data centers and AI. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

bloomberg.com View on Bluesky →

In our primer, we discuss how "AI" is a cudgel against workers and a set of technologies premised on labor intensification. They don't increase productivity and break work processes and norms. How are you going to "guardrail" your way out of that? labor.dair-institute.org/primers

Luddite Lab labor.dair-institute.org
AI Weekly's analysis
  • The Luddite Lab, a DAIR project, published a primer titled 'Myths About Generative AI, Productivity, and Job Displacement.'
  • The hub argues AI worker displacement is a market-strategy move by firms seeking cost savings, not evidence of AI matching job quality.
  • The resource hub grew from conversations with unionists in journalism, entertainment, and nursing industries facing automation.
Read full analysis →
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Alex Hanna reposted
Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social

When people ask me what the phrase "artificial intelligence" means, my short answer is, it means "venture capitalists, give me some money". But OUP asked me for a longer answer, given here and summarized in the section headings: doi.org/10.1093/9780...

doi.org View on Bluesky →

Recent commentary

Sir, another graduation ceremony in which the students booed AI has dropped. "College graduates were pissed after their school used AI to announce graduates’ names and missed hundreds of names" (via @/FearedBuck on Twitter)

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

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Attending two more graduation ceremonies this week. Let's see if we can get the students to boo at every mention of AI

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

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Someone please invite me for a book talk where we chat about AI Hype between powerlifting sets

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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.

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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)

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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.

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Well I went to a graduation tonight and they still used an AI voice

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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)

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In Alex Hanna's orbit

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