Every Time Is Different

To understand the world today, people often compare current events with those of yesteryear. Just as Rome fell, so too shall America, they might say. Technological change has brought about massive changes both to our daily lives, and to those of the past. We don’t know how new technologies will change our lives in the long term. So people look at history for clues.

Consider the introduction of the mechanised textile equipment. It is generally agreed that textiles were the first industry to arise out of the industrial revolution in Britain. Beforehand, production of textiles was done by skilled artisans. But in Manchester in 1779, skilled people rebelled and started destroying mechanised equipment. They were called the Luddites - named after their mythical leader, Ned Ludd.

This movement coined the term Luddite - a person who opposes technical progress. Today Luddite is levelled as an insult. And it is a fair one. We can trace many benefits of technological progress, that its benefit is no contest. Imagine a carriage driver who opposed the Ford Model T, and who smashed up cars in the street. He would be seen as a real screw-ball today.

The general theme seems to be that things turned out all right in the end. The automobile became a ubiquitous and useful part of every day life. And in a general sense, things did turn out all right. In most cases, opposing a new technology didn’t work. If it is useful, reduces costs, or brings joy to people, people will use it. Moreover, the world is competitive. Fall behind, and your competitors will beat you out.

Today we are dealing with our own uncertainty around new information technology. AI is the big obvious one. Another massive one is social media, with its “news feed” of constant, addictive updates. We have a million other innovations taking place in the background (e.g. in drug development). But these technologies that everyone uses, and in the palm of their hands, are the most obvious.

We are seeing a lot of push-back to Big Tech. Once lauded as innovators, they have metastasised into institutions that loom over our lies, spying on us, getting us addicted, and feeding us slop. People’s views on technology are far less favourable than they were ten years ago. People are fed up with AI especially. But are we being Luddites? Should we do something about technological overreach, and reject their tools?

In history, each time is different. Is an AI datacentre like a textile factory? Because you might see the people who turn up their nose eye at AI, and label them a Luddite. But cheap textiles have clothed many billions all around the world. Textiles are real and useful. Now think about the last five AI-generated posts you saw on Internet, and tell me, were they as useful as the clothes on your back?

History is not inevitable. It is contingent - meaning it depends on the people and the objects of the time period. New technology carries an inevitability to its adoption. But that requires merit. We should think carefully about the merit of the technology foisted upon us. The Luddites were beaten back by the factory owners, who had powerful friends in Parliament. Who knows how things could have gone if they hadn’t? And who knows what we could all do, if we were Luddites too.