On Monday, I had another discussion with folks online about machine learning being employed for creative tasks and the inevitable “it’s inevitable” angle people who stand to benefit from that automation like to promote.
One of the things I brought up is that people can not want technology to be implemented in a certain way and not be anti-technology, which reminded me of the term “Luddite,” commonly used these days to describe someone who is against technology.
Richard Coniff over at Smithsonian Magazine dives into the actual history of Luddites, who Ludd was, and how they actually weren’t as anti-technology as the current usage implies.
Don’t fret if you’ve been using Luddite as a catch-all for curmudgeonly folks against anything more advanced than a slide rule. I suspect the same people happy to obfuscate the reality of the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit are happy there’s this confusion.
1 thought on “Maybe You’re More of a Luddite than You Thought…”