Were the Luddites right? – Why A.I. is making it seem that way

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

Society & Culture, Government, News, Politics

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 8 August 2025

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. • Support us on Patreon for early episodes and more. • We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to indeed.com/bunker to get your £100 sponsored credit. • Advertisers! Want to reach smart, engaged, influential people with money to spend? (Yes, they do exist). Some 3.5 MILLION people download and watch our podcasts every month – and they love our shows. Why not get YOUR brand in front of our influential listeners with podcast advertising? Contact ads@podmasters.co.uk to find out more 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 www.podmasters.co.uk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This edition of The Bunker is sponsored by Naked Wines. I'm Seth Tevall.
0:04.8	And I'm Zoe Grunewold.
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0:30.6	so pretty good on things Portuguese, but non-existent on those other things. How about you, Zay?
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2:04.6	I'm Alex von Tanselman.
2:06.5	Now, what do you think of if you hear the word Luddite?
2:10.5	Most probably you think of someone who rejects modern technology.
2:14.2	Perhaps they're a bit old-fashioned or scared of progress.
2:19.5	But the word Luddite didn't begin as a term of abuse, rather it was a term of pride. During the Industrial Revolution in
2:26.0	the early 19th century, Luddites, followers of Ned Ludd, fought for workers' rights and to preserve
	...

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