AI is set to take all of our jobs. It will irrevocably transform our relationships - and it might even kill us all. These are some of the big claims made about artificial intelligence today. And they are claims that on Novara, we take seriously. This week’s Downstream guest thinks that giving weight to those grand concerns is a mistake. He believes that by talking up the possibility that AI could replace significant amounts of labour - or develop an agency of its own - only serves to exaggerate the capacity of AI - and therefore just helps tech CEOs drive more investors to buy their already overpriced stocks. Cory Doctorow is a writer and activist - who’s written 36 books - spanning non-fiction and science fiction. He famously coined the term “ensh*ttification” to describe the modern trajectory of the internet. And he has a new book on AI - it’s called the “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI”. As Aaron Bastani takes time off on paternity leave, Michael Walker, host of Novara Live, sat down with Cory to ask one of the world’s leading tech writers his burning questions about AI. Is Cory surprised at the speed of AI’s so-called “evolution”? What does the latest AI “Hugging Face” tell us about AI? Does the AI presented to us in 2026 present a threat to life on Earth, or is that just hype? Is it really intelligent, or just a simulacrum of intelligence? Does it matter? 0:00 Intro 2:23 Ensh*ttification: Word of the Year 13:51 How to Critique AI 17:19 Don’t Believe the AI Hype 29:34 So Is It Stupid to be Worried About AI? 33:29 The Bubble: Why AI Companies Are Losing Money 40:27 Roman Metallururgy to Spaceships: Path Dependency 41:44 Addicted to Growth: Why Companies Are Pursuing the Economics of a Bubble 52:47 Are LLMs Better than Good Google? 1:00:25 Should We Let AI Replace Radiologists? 1:11:59 The Case for Agnosticism on AI Versus Deep Scepticism 1:16:13 The Hugging Face Debate: Is AI Really Thinking? 1:36:40 Is AI “Evolving” So Fast It Could Pass Us By? 1:44:16 How Can You Be Sure the AI Isn’t Dangerous? 1:49:37 Is ShoddyCyber Sec the Real Problem? 1:54:05 The Beauty of the Double Pendulum 1:54:56 What Is the Reverse Centaur and How Does It Explain AI? 1:58:45 Fordist Factory Lines to AI: How Workers Use - And Are Used By - Technology 2:05:04 The Climate, Fully Automated Luxury Communism, and the Work We Have to Do Support our work: http://novara.media/support Buy Novara Media merch: https://shop.novaramedia.com/ Subscribe to the Downstream newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters/the-downstream-newsletter/ Tickets for Downstream IRL with Catherine Liu and Loki at EartH Hackney https://dice.fm/event/bb9wxv-novara-medias-downstream-irl-trauma-farming-21st-sep-earth-london-tickets Tickets for Downstream IRl with Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in Brighton https://novaramedia.com/events/downstream-irl-ash-sarkar-in-conversation-with-naomi-klein-astra-taylor/
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