I do not think we should reject any progress. It has mainly been for the good. I just wish we’d learn to manage it better for the good of everyone and not just the few.
Take the example of the industrial revolution. Harnessing machines to do the work should have alleviated a lot of the hard work and drudgery for many. It didn’t. The rich landowners harnessed machines and threw workers off the land. The rich capitalists set up factories and the people ejected off the land were put into factories. They ended up doing dangerous factory work on low pay. The increased wealth produced on the land and in the factories went into the pockets of the land owners and capitalists. The lot of the people worsened.
The digital revolution was meant to make work easier for many. All it did was create better productivity and different work. Now people were on call longer with emails and work from home, working longer with innovation after innovation. The increased profits went off into the pockets of the wealthy.
AI and robotics should make life better for all. No need for boring factory work or picking fruit by hand. No more driving long distances or stacking shelves. Will it result in better wages as more profits are generated? Will it reduce hours with job sharing? Or will it result in profits being hived off into the pockets of the rich?
Whose managing the change?