Emily M. Bender

Emily M. Bender is a computational linguist at the University of Washington whose research focuses on natural language processing, multilingual NLP, and the societal implications of AI systems. She gained prominence in AI ethics discourse through her 2021 co-authored paper 'On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots,' which critiqued the environmental footprint, training data practices, and capability claims of large language models—coining the term 'stochastic parrot' to describe models that generate statistically plausible text without genuine understanding. Her work emphasizes the importance of linguistic theory in AI development and challenges narratives of AI inevitability. She has continued this critical perspective through 'The AI Con' and public advocacy for more grounded, ethically informed approaches to language technology.

Emily M. Bender is a computational linguist and professor at the University of Washington known for critical work on large language models and AI ethics. She co-authored the influential 2021 paper 'On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots' with Timnit Gebru and others, which raised concerns about the environmental and social costs of large-scale language models. She is also co-author of 'The AI Con,' a critical examination of AI hype and limitations.