Reading Ellul's Technological Society in the LLM Era: When the 'One Best Technique' Gets an AI Twist
StewartalsopIII · x · 2026-09-08
The author reflects on Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society: technology as an autonomous force whose 'one best technique' spreads globally and consumes human goals — a book influential enough to have radicalized the Unabomber. He argues LLMs now challenge this thesis: even those who swore off AI coding a year ago have adopted it, shifting control of the 'one best technique' to LLMs — possibly a saving grace, possibly deeper insanity. Ellul, a Christian anarchist, offered no solution, since problem-solving itself is the technicist mindset he critiqued.
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