E P Thompson in the Making of the English Working Class was rightly critical of those who dismissed opposition to new technology in the 1820s and 1830s. Their livelihoods were threatened by employers and they fought back from Luddism to Captain Swing. Fast forwarding 200 years and AI also has the potential to destroy the jobs of the many and create profits for the few. One way to make sure that AI benefits all is for those not already in a trade union to join one and organise. It may not be as dramatic as machine breaking but collective organisation at work is something where both the late E P Thompson and Keir Starmer should be found on the same historical and practical page. Assuming Starmer ignores the counsel of the apparently ever growing number of people from the Tony Blair Institute in his team that is. It may be a big assumption.
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