Rage against the machines? For 200 years “Luddite” was a term of abuse for deluded people who tried to hold back progress. But with A.I. threatening everything from mass unemployment to business tyranny to actual human extinction, maybe it’s time to accept that the 19th century worker’s rebellion under fictional leader Ned Ludd had a pretty good point. Brian Merchant, author of Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech talks to Alex von Tunzelmann about the amorality of technology, the libelling of the Luddites, and what we can learn from them in the age of ChatGPT and OpenAI.

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Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann. Audio production by Robin Leeburn. Music by Kenny Dickinson. Managing Editor Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor Andrew Harrison. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production

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