What if everything you've been told about technological progress is a lie?

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AI is changing society faster than ever, but resistance to technology is not new. For this week's Free Speech Friday I spoke with academic Thomas DeKaiser, author of Techno Negative, about the history of anti-technology movements, from the Luddites smashing machines in the Industrial Revolution to anarchist groups bombing computer companies in the 1980s.

We discuss AI, labor automation, surveillance, moral panic, Silicon Valley ideology, tech CEOs, machine breaking, environmental destruction, and why backlash against technology keeps returning throughout history. We also explore whether technological progress actually benefits ordinary people, or mainly serves corporations and power. Sometimes it's not what you think!

Topics include:

Why anti-AI movements are growing
Big Tech and labor exploitation
AI moral panic and conspiracy theories
Environmental costs of AI
Surveillance and control
The politics of technological progress
Why people resist new technology
Silicon Valley and deregulation

Stop Feeling Helpless About AI: The Violent History of Resisting Technology

Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Stop Feeling Helpless About AI: The Violent History of Resisting Technology