The Conversation | British Museum
“Luddites” have sometimes stood in for enemies of progress: those destined to be swept aside in the forward march of history. The label of “neo-Luddism” or “digital Luddite” is also being reclaimed by people concerned about labour conditions, society and democracy in an era of AI expansion twinned with personal profit. But who exactly were the Luddites? They were a collective reaction to the traumas of the Industrial Revolution, in early industrial England. Above: ‘Leader of the Luddites’ hand-coloured etching from 1812.