The Woods Hole Public Library Social Justice Book Group will meet on Zoom to discuss “Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech” by Brian Merchant on Wednesday, November 12, at 7pm.
Hailed as “the most important book to read about the AI boom” (Wired), Blood in the Machine tells the true story of the first time machines came for human jobs—and how the Luddite uprising explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech and AI today. The most urgent story in modern tech begins not in Silicon Valley but two hundred years ago in rural England, when workers known as the Luddites rose up rather than starve at the hands of factory owners who were using automated machines to erase their livelihoods. The Luddites organized guerrilla raids to smash those machines—on punishment of death—and won the support of Lord Byron, enraged the Prince Regent, and inspired the birth of science fiction. This all-but-forgotten class struggle brought nineteenth-century England to its knees.
All are welcome to join this discussion via Zoom, and copies of the book are available to check out from the Library or to purchase at Eight Cousins Bookstore. To receive the Zoom link, please email whpl_mail@clamsnet.org.