I got an email about resistance
21 points by untitaker
21 points by untitaker
For programmers, I think of it as analogous to the Industrial Revolution in England
I keep seeing this comparison being made, but I just can't seem to fully agree with it. That revolution surely did that lots of good things, but aren't we now dealing with a global climate crisis, partially because of what that initiated? Are we really comfortable with thinking then that the consequences are manageable?
I guess all comparisons break down at some point, but with every innovative technical feat(internet, social media, machine learning algos), we have also created something that influences people on a never seen before scale, with the consequences that come with influencing people on a massive scale.
I avoid "AI"(everything LLM), and try to find alternatives to LLM stuff, not because I want to be seen as a good person in history(well I would like to, but can't have everything), but because I feel disconnected with the tech community and its lack of empathy(and consistently creating $random_shady_corp but that's a whole different tangent). If somebody would say "go do it anyway" I think I'd just grow more resentment.
I do think individuals shouldn't be guilt tripped into doing something or shamed. But bad communication skills definitely is a problem either way imo.
Yeah the analogy bothers me.
I think it's in general very pernicious to assume that if one similar thing has happened before, it is inevitable that it will unfold in the same way again. That's rarely how history has worked out. Events don't happen in a vacuum, but are affected by a very complex environment usually does not share the same similarities.
Though when drawing conclusions from history, one thing that is consistently true that being a fellow traveler to the big societal change offers very little guarantees of safety.
I really buy what the author is saying, here and elsewhere. The points are well articulated. But, I also think his perspective is shaped by working for some notoriously large companies.
Regarding the Industrial Revolution analogy, I think it holds insofar as it describes a dangerous and unpredictable situation for workers at the time.
I guess I can imagine this Quisling's take on unions too. Yuck.
What happened to the skilled workers that didn't join the luddite movement? Do we know? Did they just starve?
What happened to the spinning jenny operators when the mule was introduced? There was only one minder. Did they fight to be the side piercer?