A new book by Michael McNamara · Coming 2026

The Quiet Cost

What We Stand to Lose in the Age of AI

We worry about AI taking our jobs or escaping our control. The Quiet Cost examines what else we could lose as its help becomes a habit, from our ability to think for ourselves to our involvement in one another's lives.

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Paperback and ebook coming in 2026

The Quiet Cost by Michael McNamara, with a worn navy fingerprint fading across an ivory cover

The argument

What happens when we stop needing each other?

The visible cost

The dangers already getting our attention

Warnings about AI taking jobs, escaping human control, or threatening humanity bring an urgency that everyday losses rarely receive. Those dangers deserve serious attention. History shows that we can recognize major risks while allowing less visible costs to accumulate, especially when a useful technology becomes part of how we work, learn, and live.

The quiet cost

The changes we could get used to

An answer can spare us the effort of learning. A reassuring conversation can give us less reason to call a friend or return to a disagreement. AI can help us do those things too. The concern is what happens when it regularly takes their place, until work, school, and relationships have changed around habits we barely noticed forming.

The book makes the case for acting before these habits become difficult to change, with practical ways to keep our skills and relationships active while using AI.