The Reverse Centaur's Guide To Life After Ai
Cut along the dashed lines and pass the cards around the table.
Think of something you love doing with your own two hands, like baking, knitting, fixing a bike, or writing a letter. How would you feel if a machine offered to do it for you?
What's one piece of technology that has made your daily life a little warmer or easier, and what makes it feel like a helper and not a boss?
In a centaur, the human leads and the machine helps. In a reverse centaur, the machine sets the pace and the human keeps up. Have you ever felt like the reverse centaur at a job, and what did that feel like in your body and your mood?
Which part of the book left you feeling more hopeful about the future than you expected, and why did it land that way for you?
Doctorow keeps coming back to the people behind the work. Who is a worker in your own life (a nurse, a teacher, a barista, a relative) you found yourself thinking about as you read?
What does "work done with care" look like to you, and did the book change how much you value the human care you get from others?
The book asks who really benefits when work gets automated. Did reading it shift how you feel about your own job or your family's jobs, and has that feeling stayed with you since you finished?
If you could keep one idea from this book close by, like a note on the fridge, which would it be, and how might it change a small habit or choice for you this year?