Stop Feeling Helpless About AI: The Violent History of Resisting Technology
Stop Feeling Helpless About AI: The Violent History of Resisting Technology  
Podcast: Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Published On: Fri May 08 2026
Description: What if everything you've been told about technological progress is a lie?Support my independent journalism: 🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz         ⁠ 🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co       AI is changing society faster than ever, but resistance to technology is not new. For this week's Free Speech Friday I spoke with academic Thomas Dekeyser, author of Techno Negative, about the history of anti-technology movements, from the Luddites smashing machines in the Industrial Revolution to anarchist groups bombing computer companies in the 1980s.We discuss AI, labor automation, surveillance, moral panic, Silicon Valley ideology, tech CEOs, machine breaking, environmental destruction, and why backlash against technology keeps returning throughout history. We also explore whether technological progress actually benefits ordinary people, or mainly serves corporations and power. Sometimes it's not what you think!Topics include:Why anti-AI movements are growingBig Tech and labor exploitationAI moral panic and conspiracy theoriesEnvironmental costs of AISurveillance and controlThe politics of technological progressWhy people resist new technologySilicon Valley and deregulation