Computer Says Maybe

Grammarly launched a feature that no one wanted and now they’re getting sued. They used the names of writers, journalists, and editors to pretend that AI versions of those people were making writing suggestions via the application. None of these ‘expert reviewers’ had any idea. Grammarly pissed off the wrong journalist.
And now Julia Angwin is suing them.
More like this: The Toxic Relationship Between AI & Journalism w/ Nic Dawes

In this episode Julia (and her lawyer Peter) discuss what happened with Grammarly, why she’s suing, and how neither of them can believe that this tool made it through their legal team and into the public realm.
Please email [email protected] for more info, or if you would like your name to be searched in the list of experts that Grammarly used for their tool.

Further reading & resources:
Julia’s op ed in the New York Times
Pre-order Julia’s new book On Courage: How to be a Dissident in an Age of Fear
Check out The Markup, founded by Julia
Grammarly pulls AI author-impersonation tool after backlash — BBC 12th March 2026
Shishir Mehrotra’s (CEO of Grammarly) apology on LinkedIn
Grammarly Is Offering ‘Expert’ AI Reviews From Your Favorite Authors—Dead or Alive — Wired 4th March 2026
Grammarly is using our identities without permission — The Verge 6th March 2026
Grammarly turned me into an AI editor against my will and I hate it — Casey Newton, Platformer 9th March 2026
Details of the case, from PRF Law, Julia’s representative firm
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Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

The left has a messaging problem. Silicon Valley elites are literally making up impossible fantasies and their narratives are winning out. Why?
More like this: The Stories we Tell Ourselves About AI

This week in our second episode leading to the AI Doc, we are joined by Anat Shenker-Osorio, a progressive campaign strategist who hosts the Words To Win By podcast. Anat tries to focus on the positives: if you don’t think people should join the AI party, throw a better party. She gives us some quick lessons on messaging: how to paint tech CEOs as actual villains, how to flip the script and convince AI men that actually, it’s okay to die — and how to avoid what Anat refers to as ‘Mar-a-lago face’
Further reading & resources:
Listen to Anat’s podcast Words to Win by
Pre-Suasion and Influence by Robert Cialdini
Messaging This Moment — a critical handbook for progressive comms 
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

Next time someone tells you that we can build data centres in space, show them this podcast episode — because it is literally impossible.
More like this: AI Safety’s Spiral of Urgency w/ Shazeda Ahmed

Or better yet, recommend that they buy More Everything Forever, Adam Becker’s latest book exploring all the fantasies and promises of coming out of Silicon Valley. This episode is the first in our Fantasy Factory series, where we explore how and why tech evangelists manufacture consent about AI’s boom, doom, and inevitability.
The futures that AI men want for us — e.g. a disembodied immortal life in AI utopia — are all scientifically impossible. Even the worse mass-extinction event on Earth would be more pleasant than trying to live on Mars. Yes, space is very cold, but it doesn’t mean we should put data centres out there! Adam explains where these narratives are coming from, who they benefit, and why they exist outside the laws of physics.
Further reading & resources:
More about Adam Becker
Buy More Everything Forever
For All Mankind (TV series)
Our video on the Iran war
**Subscribe to our newsletter to get more stuff than just a podcast — we run events and do other work that you will definitely be interested in!**
Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

How does an oppressed workforce organise against Big Tech employers with even bigger lobbying muscle?
More like this: Worker Power & Big Tech Boss Men w/ David Seligman
This week’s episode is a recording of our livestream from Monday: a litigator, regulator, and activist share their work and perspectives on coordinating bottom-up fights against Big Tech power, worker suppression, and unfair consumer practices. Speakers are:
David Seligman, Executive Director of Towards Justice and Democratic candidate for Colorado Attorney General
Alvaro Bedoya, former Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission and founding director of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown University Law Center
Elliott “El’Bo” Awatt, Driver Organizer with Colorado Independent Drivers United
Further reading & resources:
Alvaro Bedoya on how he became a populist
Drivers for Lyft and Uber are building a national movement — Colorado Newsline 2024
Uber Claims Transparency Law Complicates Rides and Takes Away Driver Perks – but Does It? — Westword, February 2025
An AMA on Reddit with David Seligman
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Computer Says Maybe is produced by Georgia Iacovou, Kushal Dev, Marion Wellington, Sarah Myles, Van Newman, and Zoe Trout

This is the last of our series AI Lingo Bingo Series! We dig into four more co-opted concepts with four more all stars.
More like this: Last week’s episode with Meredith Whittaker, Audrey Tang, Abeba Birhane, and Usha Ramanathan

This week we’ll hear from Naomi Klein, who will discuss how ‘AI for Climate’ is very much not a thing; Nikhil Dey who shares all the ways powerful actors cosplay at having ‘accountability’; Timnit Gebru who explains that ‘frugal AI’ is something being made novel by the hype & scale of big tech business models; and finally Chinasa Okolo who will help us better understand the complexities of ‘multilateralism’.
Further reading & resources:
More on Nikhil Dey — social activist and a founding member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
More on Timnit Gebru — founder of the DAIR institute
More on Naomi Klein — author and professor of climate justice at the University of British Columbia
More on Chinasa Okolo — founder of Technecultura, a research institute focussing on AI governance for global majority countries
The Guardian’s profile on Nikhil — June 2013
More about MKSS involvement in the Campaign for the Right to Information in India
The Screen New Deal — by Naomi Klein, The Intercept, 2020
More on the cancellation of the Northern Gateway Pipeline
Ghana NLP
Watch this week’s interviews in full on Youtube
RSVP to **The People's Policy: Holding Big Tech Accountable [Livestreamed Conversation + Q&A]** — happening on March 2nd 5:30pm MT
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Post Production by Sarah Myles | Pre Production by Georgia Iacovou