Welcome to the AI Hype Wall of Shame. Our goal is to draw on the community of experts in order to combat the pervasive “hype” that currently misleads the public about “artificial intelligence” (AI) in its various dimensions.

Each of our posts responds to an instance of AI hype which is categorized according to a “Marvin” rating system inspired by Marvin the Paranoid Android from Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Marvin, a brilliant android, is alienated by the world so that he is often bored, depressed, or downright paranoid. Inspired by Marvin, we give a rating of #onemarvin to AI hype that of the kind that we see all the time–in other words boring. We give a rating of #twomarvins for AI hype published by authors and editors who should know better–in other words depressing. We give our highest rating, #threemarvins, for AI hype that makes unsubstantiated claims about AI sentience, consciousness, and the like–in other words, paranoia-inducing.

For more information about the AI Hype Wall of Shame, or to contribute ideas or content, please write to criticalai@sas.rutgers.edu.