The Federal Trade Commission, of all entities, is out here writing absolute bangers about AI snake oil. www.ftc.gov/business-gui...
June 17, 2024 at 7:37 PM
The Federal Trade Commission, of all entities, is out here writing absolute bangers about AI snake oil. www.ftc.gov/business-gui...
Is snake oil the future? A snake oil salesman weighs in.
How is AI shaping the future of education? A Baltimore tech founder weighs in.
Maryland education and tech professionals are weighing in as this Question Everything asks, "How is AI and new technology shaping the future of education?"
www.cbsnews.com
August 17, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Is snake oil the future? A snake oil salesman weighs in.
"AI detectors" are themselves AI, and yet are endlessly trusted by people on here if they say that a newspaper article is AI.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
Just because I keep seeing those "I checked this piece and it's written by AI" - this is an old article of mine, before AI was available. So could we not?
February 16, 2026 at 10:44 AM
"AI detectors" are themselves AI, and yet are endlessly trusted by people on here if they say that a newspaper article is AI.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.
AI writing detectors are 100% pure snake oil
Yesterday, I interviewed a tech guy who told me something too important for me to wait until the podcast comes out for you to hear it:
Many free AI detectors have especially high false positive rates because they make money selling software that "humanizes" writing. 1/2
Many free AI detectors have especially high false positive rates because they make money selling software that "humanizes" writing. 1/2
January 21, 2026 at 9:37 PM
AI writing detectors are 100% pure snake oil
you, entranced by Silicon Valley snake oil: capitalism loves AI because it will eliminate jobs
me, gazing serenely through the Matrix: capitalism loves AI because it is gambling
me, gazing serenely through the Matrix: capitalism loves AI because it is gambling
NOVEL HYPOTHESIS: LLMs and GenAI are just the more respectable parts of a broader resurgence in gambling.
April 21, 2024 at 4:49 PM
you, entranced by Silicon Valley snake oil: capitalism loves AI because it will eliminate jobs
me, gazing serenely through the Matrix: capitalism loves AI because it is gambling
me, gazing serenely through the Matrix: capitalism loves AI because it is gambling
Put me on every single anti-AI list you want. If AI has no haters, it is because I have died. Fuck every single one of you snake oil peddling phonies.
please tell me this labeler is trolling lmao
January 17, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Put me on every single anti-AI list you want. If AI has no haters, it is because I have died. Fuck every single one of you snake oil peddling phonies.
Yay more "AI can do everything1!!!" snake oil bullshit.
February 19, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Yay more "AI can do everything1!!!" snake oil bullshit.
I'm not saying AI isn't the future but it is notable that the biggest promoters are weird, cultish trolls and zealots who sound EXACTLY like NFT evangelists from a few years ago. Again I'm not saying it's snake oil, I'm saying they have lots of snake oil salesmen in their ranks.
February 16, 2025 at 5:32 PM
I'm not saying AI isn't the future but it is notable that the biggest promoters are weird, cultish trolls and zealots who sound EXACTLY like NFT evangelists from a few years ago. Again I'm not saying it's snake oil, I'm saying they have lots of snake oil salesmen in their ranks.
Snake oil sales man says, "I am selling snake oil."
Sam Altman Admits AI Is A Bubble
YouTube video by Novara Media
youtu.be
August 24, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Snake oil sales man says, "I am selling snake oil."
Unfortunately, that’s the wrong position. *Specific* AI learning models have very useful cases (MRNA vaccines being a particularly notable one), but when it comes to actual “general intelligence,” the technology is snake-oil peddled by conmen.
All AI should be banned. This is the logical position. This is the moral position. This is the easy position.
April 30, 2025 at 6:16 AM
Unfortunately, that’s the wrong position. *Specific* AI learning models have very useful cases (MRNA vaccines being a particularly notable one), but when it comes to actual “general intelligence,” the technology is snake-oil peddled by conmen.
I guess if your goal is to make a bunch of money as a snake oil salesman, you might as well let AI make the snake oil for you.
Fake authors. Fake books. Fake remedies.
Detection firm finds 82% of herbal remedy books on Amazon ‘likely written’ by AI www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Study finds "AI 'slop' has come for herbalism."
"...damning revelation of the sheer scope of unlabelled, unverified, unchecked..."
Detection firm finds 82% of herbal remedy books on Amazon ‘likely written’ by AI www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...
Study finds "AI 'slop' has come for herbalism."
"...damning revelation of the sheer scope of unlabelled, unverified, unchecked..."
Detection firm finds 82% of herbal remedy books on Amazon ‘likely written’ by AI
Originality.ai scans 558 titles in herbal remedies section between January and September
www.theguardian.com
October 31, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I guess if your goal is to make a bunch of money as a snake oil salesman, you might as well let AI make the snake oil for you.
Kind of an awkward PSA because I've had some artist mutuals recommend these sites/tools, but
"ai image detection" tools are snake oil, and I feel like nobody bothered to scrutinize them.
So I opened photoshop cs6, drew a smiley face, and uploaded it to the "accurate" detector:
"ai image detection" tools are snake oil, and I feel like nobody bothered to scrutinize them.
So I opened photoshop cs6, drew a smiley face, and uploaded it to the "accurate" detector:
February 5, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Kind of an awkward PSA because I've had some artist mutuals recommend these sites/tools, but
"ai image detection" tools are snake oil, and I feel like nobody bothered to scrutinize them.
So I opened photoshop cs6, drew a smiley face, and uploaded it to the "accurate" detector:
"ai image detection" tools are snake oil, and I feel like nobody bothered to scrutinize them.
So I opened photoshop cs6, drew a smiley face, and uploaded it to the "accurate" detector:
AI is the tech version of snake oil
These are con-artists. And I feel like I'm going crazy because so few people recognize them when it used to be a very common skill most people had!
“We are going to cure cancer and create limitless energy, but first we have to fire a whole lot of people.”
June 10, 2025 at 3:31 AM
AI is the tech version of snake oil
Every politician who pushed AI should be forever remembered as a snake oil salesman willing to sell out humanity.
Lying to our faces while the writing was on the wall for all to see
Lying to our faces while the writing was on the wall for all to see
June 7, 2026 at 12:32 AM
Every politician who pushed AI should be forever remembered as a snake oil salesman willing to sell out humanity.
Lying to our faces while the writing was on the wall for all to see
Lying to our faces while the writing was on the wall for all to see
Ai is a false marketing term. It’s snake oil
Ai is neither artificial nor intelligent
And it relies heavy on the work done by humans. Past and present work
Ai is neither artificial nor intelligent
And it relies heavy on the work done by humans. Past and present work
Lesley Stahl reports on the growing market of “humans in the loop” — workers around the world who help train AI for big American tech companies. They say they face poor working conditions, low pay, and undertreated psychological trauma. Sunday on 60 ⏱️
November 23, 2024 at 4:07 AM
Ai is a false marketing term. It’s snake oil
Ai is neither artificial nor intelligent
And it relies heavy on the work done by humans. Past and present work
Ai is neither artificial nor intelligent
And it relies heavy on the work done by humans. Past and present work
i propose a category of workers called the Lumpenprofessionals. AI snake oil CEOs, career op-ed columnists, personal injury attorneys who advertise on the subway. who else
February 25, 2026 at 5:41 PM
i propose a category of workers called the Lumpenprofessionals. AI snake oil CEOs, career op-ed columnists, personal injury attorneys who advertise on the subway. who else
AI detectors are snake oil sold with a "it cures snake oil intoxication" pitch
July 5, 2026 at 1:27 PM
AI detectors are snake oil sold with a "it cures snake oil intoxication" pitch
(Full disclosure, I think there’s a lot of really good use cases for ML tech, including stuff like image and data analysis, etc. But the general purpose generative AI screams snake oil to me.)
May 25, 2024 at 7:57 PM
(Full disclosure, I think there’s a lot of really good use cases for ML tech, including stuff like image and data analysis, etc. But the general purpose generative AI screams snake oil to me.)
Right!
I get why Sam Altman does it.
But when he does, the rest of us shouldn’t just write it down, nodding along, but roll our eyes and say “whatever, snake-oil salesman with a laptop.”
I get why Sam Altman does it.
But when he does, the rest of us shouldn’t just write it down, nodding along, but roll our eyes and say “whatever, snake-oil salesman with a laptop.”
May 23, 2024 at 12:11 PM
Right!
I get why Sam Altman does it.
But when he does, the rest of us shouldn’t just write it down, nodding along, but roll our eyes and say “whatever, snake-oil salesman with a laptop.”
I get why Sam Altman does it.
But when he does, the rest of us shouldn’t just write it down, nodding along, but roll our eyes and say “whatever, snake-oil salesman with a laptop.”
Bernie, come on man it’s not a real AI, it’s a chat bot snake oil machine
March 20, 2026 at 1:36 PM
Bernie, come on man it’s not a real AI, it’s a chat bot snake oil machine
I love that the "ai snake oil" guys rebranded to "ai is a normal technology"
September 16, 2026 at 3:53 AM
I love that the "ai snake oil" guys rebranded to "ai is a normal technology"
Reading "AI Snake Oil" by Kapoor and Narayanan.
Funny thing: in that big story early on where a lawyer got caught using AI-hallucinated cases, apparently the lawyer asked the AI itself if they were real and the AI said yes.
Funny thing: in that big story early on where a lawyer got caught using AI-hallucinated cases, apparently the lawyer asked the AI itself if they were real and the AI said yes.
March 9, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reading "AI Snake Oil" by Kapoor and Narayanan.
Funny thing: in that big story early on where a lawyer got caught using AI-hallucinated cases, apparently the lawyer asked the AI itself if they were real and the AI said yes.
Funny thing: in that big story early on where a lawyer got caught using AI-hallucinated cases, apparently the lawyer asked the AI itself if they were real and the AI said yes.
It's interesting to think that one of the big drivers of generative AI is very extremely obviously the weird relationship with their mortality that billionaires have.
Middle-aged and over billionaires, desperately and pathetically seeking immortality, turning to whatever snake oil promises it.
Middle-aged and over billionaires, desperately and pathetically seeking immortality, turning to whatever snake oil promises it.
March 19, 2026 at 1:22 PM
It's interesting to think that one of the big drivers of generative AI is very extremely obviously the weird relationship with their mortality that billionaires have.
Middle-aged and over billionaires, desperately and pathetically seeking immortality, turning to whatever snake oil promises it.
Middle-aged and over billionaires, desperately and pathetically seeking immortality, turning to whatever snake oil promises it.