December 7, 2025
When memes meet machines
The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to Criticizing AI
AI roast: jobs on the line, artists clap back, bosses plot a “neo-NAFTA”
TLDR: Cory Doctorow’s AI critique sparked a comment war: some say the tech’s value depends on replacing workers, others argue artists already remix like machines. The crowd pushed for union-style bargaining and warned bosses may “NAFTA” white-collar jobs—plus jokes about finding the right myth-creature name.
Cory Doctorow dropped his “Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI” at the University of Washington, and the comments immediately turned into a spicy town hall. The loudest alarm bell: AI’s sky-high valuations only make sense if it replaces tons of workers, said roxolotl, adding that Wall Street doesn’t buy the mystical “machine god” hype. Cue panic emojis and popcorn gifs.
Then came the counterpunch. gmuslera argued that artists and coders are basically meme chefs—we remix patterns just like the bots do—which had creatives fuming about consent, credit, and pay for training data. skeltoac steered the brawl toward solutions: sectoral bargaining (industry-wide union deals) to give creators real leverage and a strong fallback. Multicomp warned that “pointy‑haired bosses” are eyeing a neo‑NAFTA for desk jobs, offshoring creativity like they did factory work, and sneaking in “compilation copyright” to dodge paying individual artists. Meanwhile, morkalork broke the tension with a naming rant: can someone please find a myth creature that’s actually “animal head, human body”? The vibe: high drama, real fear, and laughs on the side. If Doctorow’s guide is about keeping the human in charge, the crowd is split between fortifying the castle and joking about the moat.
Key Points
- •Cory Doctorow delivered a sold‑out lecture at the University of Washington’s Neuroscience, AI and Society series and published its text online.
- •The talk draws from his forthcoming book, “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI,” scheduled for publication by Farrar, Straus and Giroux next June.
- •Doctorow distinguishes science fiction’s role as exploring techno‑social dynamics from predicting the future.
- •He notes media and audiences often miscast science fiction writers as futurists and seek AI predictions he declines to make.
- •He avoids AI futurism debates due to previous negative experiences criticizing cryptocurrency and associated backlash.