Less satisfying ... After delivering a series of strong chapters that persuasively develop the book’s argument, Mr. Carr loses oomph and authority in a final, forward-looking section about artificial intelligence and deepfakes that feels, frankly, shallow ... Carr is in many respects an admirably measured writer, but the contours of his prejudices sometimes show, and when they do it’s disappointing.
There’s an unmistakable skepticism of progress in this book, at least when it comes to modern communication technology ... Carr’s tone is elegiac and mournful.
Takes the long view ... Carr is no conservative or Luddite: he sees, for example, how Gen Z social-media-speak is witty, inventive, fun. But it, too, is flattening ... The case Carr makes is compelling. Is there an antidote? He does not believe we can simply reshape and constrain the technologies. It is too late for that ... Shows us what is at stake.
Carr’s conclusion has a few ideas for changing media habits, but they’re immersed in regret for the 1990s, when humans squandered their chance to influence then-emerging social media ... Insightful, but not revolutionary.
