Luddite

Full Title or Meme

A person that is worried about the adverse impacts of the deployment of innovative technology.

Context

• In truth, the Luddites were skilled with machines. They were simply fighting for better worker rights. In 1799 the British government passed legislation that prohibited trade unions and collective bargaining. So, the Mill owners introduced more machines in the factories and reduced wages. An then, in 1811 after years of frustrating negotiations a spate of coordinated attacks on mill frameworks erupted across the UK, led by "King Net Ludd".
• A new breed of technology observers have determined that "The Luddites were right". in a new book by Brain Merchant.

  At MIT scientists were developing robots and apps without considering how they would be used. "It's like Frankenstein's monster. The guy just makes it and lets it go"

• Its an open question if AI will be the next scientific Weapon of Mass Destruction.
• As is becoming a tradition, it was science fiction that first described the "Singularity" when technological progress would soon accelerate to a spike of such intense change that on the other side of it, humanity would be unrecognizable.
• It seems like Luddites were just worried about their own "unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

  Despite their modern reputation, the original Luddites were neither opposed to technology nor inept at using it. Many were highly skilled machine operators in the textile industry. Nor was the technology they attacked particularly new. Moreover, the idea of smashing machines as a form of industrial protest did not begin or end with them. In truth, the secret of their enduring reputation depends less on what they did than on the name under which they did it. You could say they were good at branding.