Prof. Emily M. Bender(she/her)My Feb 2026 Katz Lecture for UW's Simpson Center for the Humanities is now available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Lc6QNxolQ
Unfortunately, the recording doesn't include the Q&A. Two things I remember from that:
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YouTube
The first is a student who asked how to resist pressure to use "AI" without being a stick in the mud. I said: Be a stick in the mud! Help create the solid ground that others might stand on too.
I shared this story with Sam Cole on the @404mediaco podcast, too:
The Marketing Tricks of "Artificial Intelligence"
The other was a student who asked if I thought we could get back to a world where people care about art. I turned that back to the audience and asked "Who here cares about art?" Every single hand went up. Not a random sample of the population to be sure, but the question asker was also not alone.
JW@emilymbender
Famously, in1980s or 1990s the Australian Treasurer told an arts lobby group to stop telling him about the economic value of art and start telling him about the social and artistic values.
Famously, in1980s or 1990s the Australian Treasurer told an arts lobby group to stop telling him about the economic value of art and start telling him about the social and artistic values.
Drew@emilymbender I feel like the hard part is feeling that our caring matters in a meaningful way and yet like your earlier comment on being a stick in the mud towards ai is also relevant to that… we should all make our voice heard and make it matter. Especially because despondency is the antithesis of the spirits nature and any other choice is a kind of death.
Violet Madder@dharmadischarge @emilymbender
We live in a world being run by people who don't seem to think human lives or hearts matter in any meaningful way, and they're cultivating despair because it feeds into the system of community-breaking cruelty that upholds their power.
That one student verbalized it as a concern about art but when you get down to it the question is really, how do we stop these technofascist planetwreckers from ruining everything good.
Love and solidarity is the answer.
Alan is @cogdog 🇨🇦@emilymbender I listened online and remember those questions (we could not hear their voices well) and those answers.
On the other hand, on Jeff Young’s podcast he asked a few students at the end for thoughts about a future of work with agentic AI colleagues. They seemed accepting of the inevitably. https://learningcurve.fm/episodes/how-to-prepare-students-for-a-world-of-ai-co-workers
How to Prepare Students For a World of AI Co-Workers | Learning Curve
As companies start to replace employees with AI agents, how are human workers adjusting? For this episode Jeff connected with Evan Ratliff, who created what he calls “the world’s first AI-led startup” to see what happens when AI agents run a company. He’s been documenting the sometimes comic results on his podcast Shell Game. What advice does Ratliff have for educators trying to prepare students for this strange new world of work? As a bonus, three college students with very different majors weigh in on what they think of all this.
NadiaPurge@emilymbender they care about art, but many think AI *is* art, and adults refuse to pay artists anymore to make art so.... caring is not enough, imo.
I have blocked so many local businesses lately for choosing slop graphics instead of contracting someone (like me) for their promotions, logos, and FB pages. It is a sea of same-trash, and I hate it. There is no living anymore for my skillset because of this.
@NadiaPurge I will ask you not to make assumptions about the people in the room at a talk you were not at.
@emilymbender you are curt af, thanks for that.
G. Wozniak@emilymbender @404mediaco I'm happy to say that I am currently being a stick in the mud at work about this.
Roy@emilymbender
Great advice. I'm doing that at my work but so far appear to be the only person refusing to use AI.
@404mediaco
Great advice. I'm doing that at my work but so far appear to be the only person refusing to use AI.
@404mediaco
Alex, the Hearth Fire@emilymbender @404mediaco I just lost a job for refusing to use generative AI. That feels like an achievement.
LJ@WizardOfDocs well, fuck!
Billy Smith@WizardOfDocs @emilymbender @404mediaco
More like a bullet dodged. :)
If the management are going to that susceptible to sales pitches and technology trends, then you 'd be wasting most of your time doing project that lead nowhere, and will be changed on a whim.
That's a miserable way to earn a living... :D
Speaking from personal experience. :)
@BillySmith yeah, it's definitely a relief, but I'm still mad about the specifics
Another way is asking what the impact will be on the company's liability insurance, as insurance companies are refusing to cover anything with AI in it. :D
Push the legal team to get a definite opinion, and refuse to go forward, until someone sign's off on that, accepting the responsibility.
Make sure that the people making these decisions are held fully accountable for their decisions. :D
Peter Abrahamsen@emilymbender thanks, I was bummed to miss this!
B'ad Samurai 🐐🇺🇦@emilymbender I’m so glad we have your voice locally, in the heart of Seattle. Also hoping some of the independent theaters play Ghost in the Machine!