The Audio Long Read What technology takes from us – and how to take it back
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Feb 16, 2026 A meditation on how tech and capitalism favor measurable convenience over messy, embodied life. Stories of blackberry picking and bookstore encounters show why hands-on experience matters. The piece explores how outsourcing thought and flirting with AI replacements erodes solitude, learning and real intimacy. It ends with a call to rebuild communal spaces and reconnect with nature and touch.
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Outsourcing Thought Erodes Skill
- Tech companies push outsourcing of thinking and social skills to AI, promising to abolish solitude and private thought.
- Solnit warns that outsourcing decision-making erodes capacities like judging ripeness or conversational improvisation.
A Date Guided By Prompts
- She cites an advert where smart glasses prompt a man during a date, reducing conversation to relayed instructions.
- The example shows how reliance on prompts can hollow genuine connection and make users less capable of spontaneous interaction.
Learning Is The Product, Not Just Grades
- Letting AI write your work replaces the developmental process that education intends to provide.
- Solnit asserts that the true product of learning is the student themselves, not only grades or polished outputs.
