Electricity, Computers, Now AI: Reddit Essay Argues Every Tech Revolution Creates Desires, Not Just Labor
Imaginary-Energy6898 · reddit · 2026-10-29
A Reddit user lays out a recurring pattern in tech revolutions, arguing AI is repeating it:
- Electricity: first framed as replacing human labor; today's average US household uses 10,500 kWh a year watching TV, streaming music, refrigerating food — desires electricity itself created
- Computers: named for computation, yet a 1969 NASA scientist shown a smartphone a million times more powerful would only ask 'so everyone launches rockets from home?' Reality: TikTok, dating apps, streaming
- AI: the 'replaces hundreds of coders' pitch may miss the point the same way
Conclusion: every transformative technology creates new desires nobody could predict, and AI will likely do the same.
Related event: Reddit Discussion: AI May Follow the Path of Electricity and Computing(2 posts)→
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