By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 19/08/2026In other words, AI is mostly a novelty, a heavily subsidized toy that produces little more than distraction. 6/ 310321
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 19/08/2026Where AI *does* produce value, that value is comparable to a *plug-in*, a new feature for your word processor or image/sound/video-editing package that might help you do your job somewhat better, or it might not. 7/ 27110
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 19/08/2026That doesn't make AI useless, it just makes it a *normal* technology: useful for some, useless for others, capable of being abused and likely to waste a lot of time when used unwisely: www.normaltech.ai 8/normaltech.aiAI as Normal Technology | Sayash Kapoor | SubstackAnalyzing AI as transformative but normal technology, not superintelligence. Click to read AI as Normal Technology, a Substack publication with tens of thousands of subscribers. 17010
bm @brologue.net · 19/08/2026I do think more of us should keep plugging away at this "AI is plugins" line because anyone who uses a software long enough can remember the first time an update added a benign, optional feature that they personally didn't have much use for. It's a hype-resistant comparison. 010
