The Rise Of Anti-Tech Movements
Perhaps the most well known anti-technology movement was the Luddites of the early 19th century. But they weren’t really anti-technology. They just wanted a fair wage and to be treated well by their employers. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) today, we may be entering a similar phase. What might this look like?
Along with the Luddites there was the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 19th century, in the 1960s to 70’s there was the back-to-the-land movements and the Neo Luddites of the late 20th century. What’s important to understand though is that most of these movements and groups aren’t anti-technological progress, they’re advocating for a more balanced, less speedy approach.
Understanding these movements and their vision for technology’s role in society helps us to see how culture is working to change technology after it has changed us.
If it feels to you as if technologies like AI, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) along with social media, smartphones and so on are coming at us so fast, you’re right. You may also be feeling it’s also too much, too fast. Or perhaps that social media has ruined society, that you’re being watched and over-analysed by large corporations?
These are valid perceptions. We have reached a point where what in anthropology is called the Ratchet Effect has sped up unlike ever before in human history. This trajectory is all enabled by the silicon chip that zipped into the world in the 1970s. The Ratchet Effect is where we combine technologies, building on prior ones.
Many of these movements have arisen as broader society as both citizens and consumers feel disillusioned with the tech giants and especially social media platforms. None of them have escaped some form of faux pas, from illegal selling of third party data to onerous surveillance of consumers and sometimes outright fraud such as FTX and Sam Backman-Fried.
Let’s take a look at a few of the anti-tech or perhaps more better stated, cautious tech movements and their views on technology’s role in society.
Digital Minimalism: This idea was sparked by the book “Digital Minimalism” by Carl Newport. It’s a philosophy being intentional about the use of various technologies. It has even extended to mobile device use. Using them less or having minimal apps on ones phone.
Theres the Centre for Humane Technology, founded by a former Google design ethicist, Tristan Harris. The mission is to realign technology in the interests of humanity.
And with no small irony there’s the NoSurf community, which is online. Their objective is to help people reduce their time online and help people live a less digitally dependent life.
Inspired by the Jewish Sabbath there’s the Sabbath Manifesto, encouraging people to unplug one day a week. If you join up for it you get a free mobile phone sleeping bag.
At the more radical end of the anti-tech ideas is Anarcho Primitivism, which finds its roots in the enlightenment era. There are some, ironically again, online communities espousing a return to agrarian style living for humans.
There are no a growing number of wellness retreats where you don’t bring any devices or at least have them locked up during your stay. There’s camping and backpacking trips with no devices either.
While none of these movements are ones that will stem the tsunami of new digital products and services flooding our world, they’re growing enough that they’re easier to find and a growing number of people are joining in.
Some technology companies, especially startups, are taking notice and looking at more interesting ways to bring devices to market that are less obtrusive and addictive. There is a new line of smartphones that use eInk, from the minimal phone to the Mudita Pure. And eInk tablets from Boox and ReMarkable. Then there’s a number of AI devices from the HumaneAi pin to the rabbit r1. None of which seem to be gaining much market interest.
We may in the near future, see more organised and intentional movements like the Luddites form and take action. While it was easy to smash machines in the 19th century, such actions today are more likely to be driven by unions and hacker groups like Anonymous conducting cyberattacks. Which has already happened.
If large segments of society begin to feel that AI really is taking their jobs, we may also see more active lobbying of governments to enact laws and regulations. We see this today through organisations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), who are at the leading edge of keeping tech giants in check.
There are a lot of good things that have come from digital technologies along with the bad. One might argue that there’s more good than bad. It’s the bad events and things that garner the most attention in a world where algorithms hype the rage and clickbait is ad revenue for media companies.
So we are at an interesting time of social change as culture begins to push back against not the technologies themselves, but how they are used in our societies.
