From looms to mathematicians: a historical thread on tech-driven job displacement
soumitrashukla9 · x · 2026-10-21
Soumitr Ashukla posted a 10-part thread responding to mathematicians' recent anxiety over rapid AI advances, arguing that technological change has always been deeply personal: looms fell silent, switchboards went dark, factory lines shrank — each bringing an identity crisis for masters of their craft.
Quoting reposter nwaisb adds an undercurrent the thread leaves implicit: while displaced workers did suffer, jobs overall became higher-paying and more complex through these transitions. A historical lens for today's debate on AI displacing knowledge workers.
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