Technology writer and author Cory Doctorow said artificial intelligence is transforming workers into tools for machines rather than providing assistance to them.
This shift suggests a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and technology. If AI is used to degrade labor rather than enhance it, the economic promise of automation may benefit only a small group of corporate owners while eroding the quality of professional work.
Speaking during an episode of the “Galaxy Brain” podcast hosted by Charlie Warzel, Doctorow introduced the concept of the “reverse centaur” [1]. He said a reverse centaur is a person who has been conscripted to assist a machine [3]. While traditional centaur models of AI involve humans using machines to increase their own productivity, Doctorow said the current trend is the opposite: humans are now being used to refine and support the AI [3].
Doctorow linked this phenomenon to a broader process he calls “enshittification” [1, 2]. He defined enshittification as the process by which platforms start by serving users, then developers, and finally shareholders [4]. According to Doctorow, this cycle eventually turns workers into tools for the machine [4].
This pattern is not limited to a single industry but is a systemic issue across digital platforms. Doctorow said that the most important thing about a gadget is not what it does, but who it does it for and what it does it to [1]. He believes the narrative of endless growth and the hype surrounding the AI boom are unsustainable [1, 3].
Earlier reports on this trend appeared in 2025, highlighting how various internet platforms have undergone similar declines in quality [4]. The current iteration of this process, discussed in a June 7, 2026, interview with EL PAÍS, suggests that social media and AI tools are increasingly designed to serve corporate interests over the needs of the people using them [1].
““A reverse centaur is a person who has been conscripted to assist a machine.””
Doctorow's framework suggests that AI is not merely a tool for efficiency but a mechanism for shifting power. By framing workers as 'reverse centaurs,' he highlights a transition where human intelligence is harvested to train and maintain systems that may eventually replace those same workers or reduce their autonomy. This perspective shifts the AI debate from technical capability to a struggle over labor rights and corporate governance.
