Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, generative artificial intelligence or GAI has become a topic of intense debate. Is it friend or foe? Is it even ‘intelligent’?  Is it an exciting new stimulus to human creativity or an existential threat to humanity? Is it a benign tool for relieving us of mundane tasks and thus enhancing productivity or will it steal our jobs? Is it a fun and essentially harmless gimmick, or something much darker and more sinister?

As historians we know that this is not the first time that new technology has generated debate or even conflict. We also know that technology cannot be separated from the specific social, political, economic and cultural contexts from which it emerges and in which it is used. In other words, if we are to understand GAI and its implications, then it needs to be historicised. As we try to make sense of these very recent developments we think it would be instructive therefore to look at some earlier examples of technological change, and the hopes, fears and conflicts that these have generated. We invite colleagues and students to join us for an informal discussion.

What: Short presentations by Richard Cole and Mary Hilson, followed by general discussion.
 

Richard Cole, ‘Medieval Violence against Technology’
In this presentation, I examine selected medieval sources where either 1) disquiet was expressed about devices which gave the appearance of being sentient (golems, bronze heads), or 2) violence against technology was recorded. I ask what we might learn from the misgivings of medieval thinkers about certain technological advancements. Can an entire category of technology be undesirable by its very nature? Or conversely, can certain categories of technology ever be desirable under capitalism?

Mary Hilson, ‘Luddism in the English social history tradition’
A Luddite, according to the OED, is ‘[o]ne who opposes the introduction of new technology, esp. into a place of work.’ The dictionary’s examples suggests that the term has come to be used largely as a perjorative term, referring to those who stand in the way of progress. But who were the Luddites and what were they campaigning about? In this short presentation, I will revisit some of the classic works of labour history (e.g. E P Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm) on the networks of machine-breakers active in England during the 1810s, to try to understand Luddism then and now.

No registration necessary.
Bring your own refreshments!

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