BONUS: How the Internet Got Worse with Cory Doctorow

The conversation explores the decay of digital platforms, a phenomenon Cory Doctorow terms "inshittification," where companies prioritize profit extraction over user experience. Doctorow argues that the dismantling of competition, regulation, and interoperability has created an environment rewarding exploitative practices. Examples include Amazon's increasing reliance on paid placement over relevant search results and Uber's algorithmic wage discrimination, which lowers pay based on a driver's perceived desperation. Doctorow contends that legal restrictions, like anti-circumvention laws, prevent users and creators from modifying products to resist these exploitative practices. He suggests that collective bargaining for creative workers is a viable solution to prevent AI from eroding their rights.