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Doctorow & AI-related articles


CORY DOCTOROW


AI - Use It but don't buy the hype. 
THE REVERSE CENTAUR’S GUIDE TO LIFE AFTER AI



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Learn more: craphound.com and pluralistic.net


I learned a lot in this conversation with CORY DOCTOROW and in his new book, THE REVERSE CENTAUR’S GUIDE TO LIFE AFTER AI. Rather than fear AI, Doctorow uses it daily, but he is also skeptical. He reminds us that nothing about the way things are unfolding with AI, technology, or society is inevitable, though that is the contention of those who profit from it. He warns that, if - in protesting AI’s threat - we buy into worst-case scenarios of its power, we promote its value.. More than what AI does, we need to pay attention to who AI does it to, and who AI does it for. Timely and useful. 

Doctorow & AI-related articles



The Real Price of Artificial Intelligence

Guardian review The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI by Cory Doctorow

A vivid and entertaining polemic on the economics of the tech revolution filled with righteous ire

by Dorian Lynskey- Guardian - 06-22-2026

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jun/22/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai-by-cory-doctorow-review-the-real-price-of-artificial-intelligence


Why Is It So Bad to Let A.I. Do My Thinking for Me?

In “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI” the renowned tech critic Cory Doctorow tries to find a good way to coexist with artificial intelligence.

by Stephen Marche - NYTimes - 06-20-2026 [Free gift article]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/books/review/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tlA.gVxy.jGBTzRLfu6r5&smid=url-share


We Didn’t Ask for This Internet - with Tim Wu & Cory Doctorw

by Ezra Klein - NYTimes - 02-06-2026 [Free gift article]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-doctorow-wu.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tlA.Hkjv.y93vy_2nqVXU&smid=url-share


Trump May Be the Beginning of the End for ‘Enshittification’ 

This is our chance to make tech good again

by Cory Doctorow - Guardian - 01-10-2026

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/10/trump-beginning-of-end-enshittification-make-tech-good-again


A Powerhouse Writer Found One Word to Change the Debate About Tech

Cory Doctorow’s new book looks to offer comfort and solutions to the inescapable feeling that digital platforms have gotten worse.

by Joseph Bernstein – NYTimes – 10-05- 2025 [Free gift article]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/05/books/review/cory-doctorow-enshittification.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tlA.i1Hb.5wPLytdB_oHp&smid=url-share


The Age of Enshittification

In a new book the technology critic Cory Doctorow expands on a coinage that has become bleakly relevant in Silicon Valley and beyond.

by Kyle Chayka - New Yorker – 10-01-2025

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-age-of-enshittification 


Giant Platforms of Shit

Cory Doctorow’s anatomy of platform “enshittification.”

By Dave Mandl - November 5, 2025 

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/giant-platforms-of-shit/


Americans Have Turned Against AI in Incredible Numbers

Who thinks AI is a good thing? Not that many people it turns out.

by Frank Landymore - Futurism - 06-21-2026 

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/americans-turn-against-ai-poll


How Do People in the US Describe Customer Service in 2026? 

‘Debilitating depressing enraging. Ugh’

We asked people in the US about their customer service battles and hundreds responded on the financial and emotional costs

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/20/guardian-readers-consumer-battles?ICID=ref_fark


The Longreads Questionnaire: Cory Doctorow

by Longreads - 06-17-2926

https://longreads.com/2026/06/17/questionnaire-cory-doctorow/


The A.I.-Design Aesthetic That’s Taking Over the Internet

How Anthropic’s new tool Claude Design is creating overnight web-design clichés.

by Kyle Chayka - NewYorker - 06- 24-2026

bit.ly/4vucjHo


There’s One Clear Reason Americans Are Gloomy About A.I.

by Paul Kedrosky - NYTimes - 06-25-2026 [Free gift article]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/25/opinion/ai-americans-pessimism.html?unlocked_article_code=1.tlA.rq_U.-u_wwdHGeAgw&smid=url-share


‘Almost Every Fortune 500 Is Tracking Overall AI Usage’: What That Means for Employees

by Barbara Booth - CNBC - 05-05-2026

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/05/ai-use-work-employee-monitoring-tech-surveillance.html


Screen Time Can Damage Under-twos’ Development, Landmark Study Suggests

Exclusive: Researchers call for urgent investigation of risks to babies of tablets smartphones and other digital devices

by Sally Weale - Guardian - 06-27-2026

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jun/27/screen-time-damage-under-twos-development-study?CMP=GTUS_email

My 20-minute commentary calls for Millennials and Boomers with shared values to forge a movement large enough, creative enough, diverse enough, and powerful enough to successfully confront the critical problems we face. 60s.2.0 - 21st century tech in the service of the best of '60s values - meets OK Boomer - the impatience of the young with the failures of the old.  "If the challenges we face are big enough to turn us against each other, then they must be big enough to bring us together."

Upcoming on Free Forum

Podcast + Online play on Progressive Voices Network on TuneIn  


Sven Beckert, Capitalism
Charles Grob MD, Psychedelic research update

Sherry Turkle, Artificial Intimacy
John Jenkins, The Summer of '71

Jeremy Rifkin, Planet Aqua


On Free Forum we explore the lives, work and ideas of individuals I suspect hold pieces of the puzzle of a world that just might work. We look at new, innovative and provocative approaches to business, environment, health, science, politics and media. These days we also focus on resistance to Trump and moving toward the just and healthy society we need. It's all based on the fact that I believe we can do better and I want to find out how.


I share the principles and practices I've learned and taught for the past 15 years. It's a good introduction or a refresher. Enjoy, employ, and share. If you want to explore further, let me know. MessageMatters - temcnally@post.harvard.edu
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