THE REVERSE CENTAUR'S GUIDE TO LIFE AFTER AI

An eye-opening take on AI.

Doctorow, a science fiction author and open-source advocate (Enshittification, 2025) warns that we are misled by advocates claiming AI will replace much of human labor. In this brisk, slightly profane account, he argues AI companies are spinning self-serving narratives. Claims that AI will transform work are actually a coded message to investors, signaling that mature companies should be viewed as “early stage” innovators—a far more enticing model. A union member in a creative field, Doctorow is a forceful advocate for labor rights. With numerous examples, he reveals how AI hype shapes public opinion, warning, “science fiction tells us that the most important aspect of a new technology isn’t what the machine does, it’s who it does it for and who it does it to.” He invokes the mythical centaur: a human-led fusion of person and machine. AI companies promote a reverse centaur, “a ‘human in the loop,’ charged with confirming the judgments the AIs make at a superhuman clip.” Denied breaks, delivery drivers, Amazon warehouse workers, and programmers hammering out endless code serve the machines. Workers’ job worries are real, but Doctorow insists the main audience for AI hype is investors: “For AI companies to make back the hundreds of billions their investors have entrusted them with, they will have to displace a hell of a lot of high-waged labor” and lure new investment. Although Doctorow says AI’s potential for medicine, data analysis, and creative work is promising, AI scientists “haven’t invented an intelligent being. … They haven’t even invented a tool that can do your job for you.”

A sharply worded, irreverent, and deadly serious call to see through the sleight-of-hand performance of AI promoters.