It reminds me a lot of the Luddite movement in a way. My personal feelings about the seemingly widespread industrial interest in adopting AI tech had me reexamine the Luddites through a different lens, as I had used their name, as many have, as a pejorative for people against progress.

The loom is clearly an invention of great importance and allowed greater access to goods for many people, and that is good. But the Luddites very much got the very short end of that stick and, in the moment, it was the property and business owners who profited immensely while the skilled workers were robbed of their livelihoods. The rich got richer and the people who had helped build their wealth got shafted. The Luddites weren’t barriers to progress, that’s winners rewriting history. They were disenfranchised workers trying to ensure they could keep their heads above water.

Clearly, technological progress is inevitable and likely beneficial in the long-term. But can we learn from the mistakes of the past and use them to guide our actions with this industrially revolutionary tech to help ensure that the skilled workers and talented people who rely on their honed skills to feed their families aren’t hurt in the process?