Cory Doctorow’s essay collection, published by Verso Books, critiques the ideology surrounding artificial intelligence and labor under digital capitalism. Doctorow argues that AI deployment often inverts human-machine relationships, reducing workers to machine assistants subjected to algorithmic control—whether delivery drivers, warehouse workers, or programmers. He challenges techno-optimist narratives promoted by billionaires and venture capital, exposing how the AI bubble prioritizes elite interests over public benefit. The work examines structural causes of technological dysfunction and proposes alternatives where tools serve human needs rather than subordinating them to machine logics. The book engages with contemporary critiques of automation, surveillance capitalism, and digital labor exploitation, themes resonant with dark alternative theory’s skepticism toward technological utopianism and corporate power consolidation.
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