A new book by Michael McNamara · Coming 2026
The Quiet Cost
What We Stand to Lose in the Age of AI
Every transformative technology has two costs: the visible one we debate, and the quiet one that changes us while we're debating. This book argues AI's deepest costs come not from where it fails, but from where it succeeds.
Publication details announced soon
The argument
Every technology has two costs. We only ever argue about one.
The visible cost
The one we debate
Misinformation. Job loss. Deepfakes. The costs we can see coming, so we debate them, regulate them, and mostly manage them. It has always worked this way. We feared the railway would scramble our brains and television would rot them. When the internet arrived, we feared identity theft. The real costs were quieter, and far more profound.
The quiet cost
The one that changes society
Every technology has put a little more distance between us. The railway separated time from place. The telephone replaced the visit. The text replaced the call. Each one was a convenience, and each one moved us a step farther apart. AI is the first that doesn't just add distance. It offers to take the other person's place.
The loud worry is that AI takes your job. The quiet one is that it takes your people, and the parts of you they built.
Coming 2026
Join the list for the launch date, an extended excerpt, and early-reader opportunities. No noise, only what matters.