The origin of the book 'AI Snake Oil' came from a talk Narayan gave at MIT in 2019 after observing hiring automation software; he called the talk 'How to Recognize AI Snake Oil' and the slides went viral because people suspected many AI claims were false but didn't have confidence to call them out, and they felt reassured when a computer science professor studying AI confirmed skepticism.
factualpending
Speaker
Arvin NarayanEvidence Quote
“the origin story of this book is actually right here at MIT...the slides went viral...we suspect that a lot of the AI related claims being made are not necessarily true”
Source
AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference— MIT Stone Center on Inequality & Shaping WorkCreated: 8/11/2026, 6:51:26 AM
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