Cory Doctorow on 'Blood In the Machine': reclaiming the Luddites from automation's winners
round · x · 2026-09-17
Round reshares Cory Doctorow's review of Brian Merchant's Blood In the Machine, quoting its sharpest point: automation isn't just about cutting wage bills — it's about removing the 'friction' of having to care about others.
Key takeaways:
- The book reframes the Luddites: not tech-ignorant vandals, but workers demanding that existing laws requiring gradual, guild-supervised automation be upheld.
- Doctorow calls out the 'automator's playbook': lawless extraction from workers rebranded as 'innovation' and 'inevitability'.
- As AI reshapes labor, this history is being actively reclaimed by workers and tech critics.
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