{"product_id":"the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai-how-to-think-about-artificial-intelligence-before-its-too-late-9780374621568","title":"The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI: How to Think about Artificial Intelligence--Before It's Too Late [Doctorow, Cory]","description":"\u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eCory Doctorow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA short, provocative guide to what's good, bad, and stupid about AI and the discourse around AI, by the author of \u003ci\u003eEnshittification\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn modern tech parlance, a \u003ci\u003ecentaur \u003c\/i\u003eis a person who is able to use technology to be a better, more productive version of themself. A \u003ci\u003ereverse centaur\u003c\/i\u003e is a person who is forced by technology to work at an inhuman pace--a driver made to deliver all day long, nonstop; a warehouse worker made to work without food or bathroom breaks; a programmer made to crank out impossible amounts of code. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI \u003c\/i\u003eis not another anti-AI screed. Cory Doctorow uses AI in his work every day. As a creative person, he has no moral or dogmatic issue with AI--he thinks the technology is useful, even exciting, and full of potential. And yet. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAI has arrived surrounded by unprecedented hype driven by a tech industry desperate to maintain its unprecedented valuation based on its own promises of endless financial growth. Despite the fact that almost all of AI's real-world implementations have proved underwhelming, AI is projected to be worth more than $16 trillion--a number that only makes sense if AI replaces vast swathes of the wage-earning human workforce. To justify that level of \"value,\" every story about AI must be presented as inevitable, world-changing disruption. Even the tales of the robot apocalypse are a calculated attempt to bolster the fearsome power of AI. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFor Doctorow, it is imperative to see through that hype to the real story, to understand the technology not just for what it does, but for who it does it to and who it does it for. From that point of view, the story of AI is indeed dramatic and unprecedented, having generated an investment bubble so big that it endangers the entire world economy. In \u003ci\u003eThe Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI\u003c\/i\u003e--as he so successfully did in \u003ci\u003eEnshittification\u003c\/i\u003e--Doctorow recounts both how we found ourselves in this dire situation and how we can get through it, to a life \"after\" AI in which the tools work for us, not the other way around.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Macmillan Publishers (MPS)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/23\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.06oz\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.50h x 5.00w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374621568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCory Doctorow\u003c\/b\u003e is a science fiction author, activist, and journalist. He is the author of many books, including \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Cause\u003c\/i\u003e, a solarpunk science-fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His nonfiction book \u003ci\u003eThe Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation\u003c\/i\u003e is a Big Tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include \u003ci\u003eEnshittification\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eRed Team Blues\u003c\/i\u003e, a science fiction crime thriller; \u003ci\u003eChokepoint Capitalism\u003c\/i\u003e, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; the \u003ci\u003eLittle Brother\u003c\/i\u003e series for young adults\u003ci\u003e; In Real Life\u003c\/i\u003e, a graphic novel; and the picture book \u003ci\u003ePoesy the Monster Slayer\u003c\/i\u003e. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Macmillan Publishers (MPS)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45018488471728,"sku":"9780374621568b","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2341\/9361\/files\/img_3c7d11b3-cbaa-4bc7-a1a4-a9d136d5d730.jpg?v=1773966604","url":"https:\/\/pandemoniumbooks.com\/products\/the-reverse-centaurs-guide-to-life-after-ai-how-to-think-about-artificial-intelligence-before-its-too-late-9780374621568","provider":"Pandemonium Books and Games","version":"1.0","type":"link"}