To celebrate the launch of Take Back Big Tech, House of Books and Friend is excited to welcome science fiction author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow, in conversation with Jovan Owusu-Nepaul, to discuss his new book ‘The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI: How to Think About Artificial Intelligence Before It’s Too Late’.

The event will take place on Friday 11th September, and will involve a discussion, a Q&A, and a chance for you to get your book signed by Cory. Doors open at 6pm, with the event starting at 6:45pm.

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be recorded live for the podcast What’s Left, hosted by Jovan and will be found on their website after the event.

Tickets:

As always, we have a limited amount of complimentary tickets for this event for anyone who needs it. Please contact us directly at bookworms@houseofbooksandfriends.com or call 07597365380.

About the Book:

It’s not enough to ask what the technology does – we must understand who it’s doing it for and who it’s doing it to.

As we enter the age of AI, we are in danger of being reduced to what Cory Doctorow dubs the ‘reverse centaur’. With that term he conjures a human being conscripted as the assistant to a dominant machine. It could be a driver made to deliver nonstop, all day long; a warehouse worker packing shelves without bathroom or food breaks; or a programmer reviewing impossible amounts of AI-produced code.

Don’t fall for the hype. The billionaires managing the rise of AI are putting on a command performance for the bosses and investors, not for the ordinary people who might use the products. When this latest tech bubble bursts, will there be something useful for us in the wreckage?

In The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, Doctorow examines why we find ourselves in this mess and how we can get out of it. Life after AI should mean the tools work for us, not the other way around.

About Jovan

Jovan Owusu-Nepaul is the co-host of the ‘what’s left?!’ Podcast, a writer, commentator, consultant and former Labour parliamentary candidate in 2024.

Interested in the big subjects of the day, Jovan spends too much of his time trying to consider the practical solutions to our problems, and since the general election has taken a keen interest in the rise of populism, and where it stems from.

Minded by issues of social justice, fairness and access to opportunity, this is what forms the thread of Jovan’s approach to the world.

About Take Back Big Tech

Take Back Big Tech is a pressure group and think tank. We exist to hold Big Tech accountable and fight for alternatives that actually work for the people who use them, not just the companies that run them.

Social media promised to connect us. AI promised to help us. Instead, our attention became the product, and the platforms we rely on are now flooded with abuse, fraud, disinformation and AI-generated noise — while their profits keep climbing. We think that’s worth fighting.