other futures: tech, resistance & imagining otherwise

This week, we’re joined by AI hype-busters and co-hosts of the Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 podcast, Drs. Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. We ask them to take off their critics' hats and talk about the tech futures they want to see, finding joy in AI hell, and what they would do if they were given control of OpenAI tomorrow.

Dr. Emily M. Bender is an American linguist and professor at the University of Washington, where she directs its Computational Linguistics Laboratory. She specializes in the risks of large language models and ethics in natural language processing. Emily is the co-author of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want.

Dr. Alex Hanna is an Egyptian-American sociologist and director of research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR). She co-hosts the podcast Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000 with linguist Emily M. Bender, and is the co-author of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want.

Other futures is hosted by Dylan Thomas Doyle (@dylantdoyle.bsky.social) and Dylan Baker (@dylnbkr.bsky.social). The show is brought to you by the Distributed AI Research Institute and the All Tomorrows Institute. It was edited by Jasmyn Morris. Music by Clair Marlo. Artwork by Pauline Wee.

Relevant links
Emily and Alex’s podcast, Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000
Emily and Alex’s book, The AI Con
What is a cyberdeck?
Emily’s talk Resisting Dehumanization in the Age of "AI": The View from the Humanities
Ghost in the machine movie

In our first episode, we’re joined by Dr. Keolu Fox to talk about Indigenous data sovereignty, Indigenizing genomics research, and what “sustainable computing” could even mean. What would it look like to build technology planning one hundred generations into the future? What would it look like for technology to support Indigenous self-determination? What is a “data terrarium”?
Dr. Keolu Fox is a Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) professor at the University of California, San Diego, affiliated with the Department of Anthropology, the Global Health Program, the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, the Climate Action Lab, and the Indigenous Futures Lab. His research spans genomics, computational biology, evolutionary genetics, paleogenetics, and Indigenous data sovereignty.
Other futures is hosted by Dylan Thomas Doyle (@dylantdoyle.bsky.social) and Dylan Baker (@dylnbkr.bsky.social). The show is brought to you by the Distributed AI Research Institute and the All Tomorrows Institute. It was edited by Jasmyn Morris. Music by Clair Marlo. Artwork by Pauline Wee.  

Relevant links
Sovereign AI and Sustainable Computation for Indigenous Communities (proposal)
Earth Friendly Computation
Keolu Fox's UC San Diego profile
Xiaowei Wang
U.S. Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network Summit 2026
Purple Maiʻa
Yvette Running Horse

Welcome to other futures. Big tech wants to control our future, but there are other paths we can choose instead. we bring together leading tech researchers, organizers, critics, and storytellers to help us imagine what more liberatory and human-centered tech futures could look like and how we can build them together.