We should all be Luddites | Brookings
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Courtney Radsch discusses rehabilitating the idea of Luddites as people concerned with the control and impact of technology.

As artificial intelligence reconfigures every dimension of our societies—from labor markets to classrooms to newsrooms—we should remember the Luddites. Not as caricatures, but in the original sense: People who refuse to accept that the deployment of new technology should be dictated unilaterally by corporations or in cahoots with the government, especially when it undermines workers’ ability to earn a living, social cohesion, public goods, and democratic institutions.

Journalists, academics, policymakers, and educators—people whose work shapes public understanding or steers policy responses—have a special responsibility in this moment: To avoid reproducing AI hype by uncritically acquiescing to corporate narratives about the benefits or inevitability of AI innovation. Rather, they should focus on human agency and what the choices made by corporations, governments, and civil society mean for the trajectory of AI development.

This isn’t just about AI’s capabilities; it’s about who decides what those capabilities are used for, who benefits, and who pays the price.

  • FaceDeer@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    I’ve noticed that Firefox just recently added “search this image using Google Lens” to the right-click menu. Google Lens then OCRs it, and lets me copy and paste the text. So here it is as text, courtesy of AI:

    But here’s the twist: they weren’t anti-technology in general - they were against the way it was being used to exploit labor and devalue craftsmanship. In modern slang, though, Luddite has come to mean anyone who resists new technology or feels uneasy about its social effects - the person who grumbles about smartphones, Al, or self-checkout kiosks. In truth, the Luddites were early critics of technological displacement - a theme still echoing today every time a robot takes a job or an algorithm replac an artist.

    and

    Ah, the Luddites - a wonderfully rebellious bunch from the early 19th century! They were groups of English textile workers who, around 1811-1816, rose up against the industrial machines that were threatening their livelihoods. Imagine skilled artisans who had spent years mastering hand-weaving, suddenly finding themselves replaced by noisy, automated looms run by factory owners who could churn out cloth faster and cheaper.