5 free resources on this topic. Everything here is free and hand-picked. You can also search within this topic.
Newsletter essay responding to commentary from journalist Taylor Lorenz about opposition to AI and data center buildouts, arguing that skepticism toward unchecked technology deployment reflects concerns about corporate and political power rather than opposition to technology itself.
Brian Merchant's newsletter on technology, labor and the effects of AI on workers. Free posts, with an optional paid tier.
Émile P. Torres's weekly newsletter examining the ideologies driving Silicon Valley — effective altruism, longtermism, TESCREAL, and the race to build artificial superintelligence — from a critical, insider-turned-skeptic perspective.
From the site: Stop doomscrolling and just read this! Click to read Realtime Techpocalypse Newsletter, by Émile P. Torres, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.
A long-form critical essay by Émile P. Torres arguing that the effective altruism movement has become a cult-like ideology with its own doctrines, charismatic leaders, jargon and social controls — and that this matters for how AI is being developed.
From the site: Understanding the "Scientology of Silicon Valley." (7,700 words)
An a16z essay arguing that platform decline is better explained by platform incentives and narcissism than by the popular "enshittification" framing.
Why I recommend it: Read this next to Cory Doctorow's original argument. Holding two competing explanations of platform decay makes you sharper when you evaluate the tools your career depends on.
