Science-fiction writer Cory Doctorow has warned that the current artificial intelligence boom is a speculative bubble that will inevitably burst, leaving behind what he calls 'tech asbestos' – harmful technologies embedded in society by monopolistic companies. In a recent essay, Doctorow argues that AI tools are being developed primarily to create 'reverse centaurs': humans serving as mere appendages to machines, rather than machines assisting humans.
Doctorow draws a parallel between AI and asbestos, a material once widely used but later found to be dangerous. He claims that tech monopolies are stuffing AI into every aspect of digital life, much like asbestos was once stuffed into buildings. The real purpose, he says, is not to empower users but to control them, citing examples such as Amazon delivery drivers monitored by AI cameras that penalise them for looking away or singing.
The author criticises the 'There Is No Alternative' (TINA) rhetoric employed by tech executives like Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, who argue that their surveillance and control systems are technologically necessary. Doctorow dismisses this as a 'vulgar Thatcherism' designed to stifle debate about better alternatives. He insists that as a science-fiction writer, his job is to imagine multiple alternatives, and he urges critics to focus on the harmful parts of AI rather than dismissing the technology entirely.
Doctorow predicts that many AI companies will fail when the bubble bursts, but he believes something salvageable can remain if society fights to redirect AI towards 'centaur' uses – where machines genuinely assist humans. He calls for a serious fight against the monopolistic roots of AI, rather than against the technology itself, to ensure that the wreckage does not leave behind lasting harm.
