⚙️ Neo-Luddite Reading Group: ‘Blood in the Machine’ by Brian Merchant

2nd and 4th Wednesday each month 6:30-8:30 @ Iffy Books

➡️ Virtual Meetup Link

Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite!

The issues and harms surrounding emerging technologies are especially concerning given the lack of regulation in the tech industry generally, and the tendency of productivity-increasing technology to further concentrate power in the hands of the few. This reading group will explore these risks and engage with how they work in the hopes of better organizing to protect the rights of workers and individuals. The goal is to have a better understanding of the costs (data, carbon, human labor) and risks (misinformation, unpredictability, bias) of making these machines, as well as limitations in what they can learn about the world primarily through text.

We’re currently reading Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech by Brian Merchant.Archived pages of our previous books include: Resisting AI, The Human Use of Human Beings, Race After Technology.

If you’d like to learn more about me, you can visit victorgom.es for a bio.

Schedule

If you’re joining for the first time, I’d suggest you read this before anything else for brief context: What the Luddites Really Fought Against by Richard Conniff.

The only expectation is that you read the chapter(s) of the book that’s listed for that meeting. You’re still welcome to participate if you haven’t done the readings as long as you are mindful. For each chapter, I’ve also noted some optional readings for context, so I’d suggest checking those out rather than reading ahead in the book. And remember, if you ever find yourself struggling with any of the readings or concepts, reach out! Either directly to me over email or to the entire group over discord.

Meeting 1 (7/10): 📖 Blood in the Machine

• Preface & Introduction
  • 🗞️ Is It O.K. To Be A Luddite? by Thomas Pynchon
  • 🗞️ A Luddite Library by LibrarianShipwreck
• 1. The Great Comet
  • 🎵 Jersusalem (from Milton) by William Blake (source of the oft-repeated, “dark satanic mills”)
  • 📜 Data Capitalism: Redefining the Logics of Surveillance and Privacy by Sarah West

Meeting 2 (7/24): 📖 Blood in the Machine

• 2. The Metropolis of Discontent
  • 🎥 Metropolis by Fritz Lang, of course
  • 🗞️ It’s the Billionaires’ Internet, and We’re Just Posting on It by Ed Ongweso Jr.
• 3. Breaking Frames, Breaking Bones
  • 🎵 Song for The Luddites by Lord Byron
  • 📜 Ned Ludd & Queen Mab: machine-breaking, romanticism, and the several commons of 1811-12 by Peter Linebaugh

Meeting 3 (8/14): 📖 Blood in the Machine

• 4. More Value than Work or Gold
  • 🗞️ The AI industry has a battle-tested plan to keep using our content without paying for it by Brian Merchant
  • 🗞️ Revisiting Mumford’s “megamachine” by LibrarianShipwreck

Meeting 4 (8/28): 📖 Blood in the Machine

• 5. The Modern Prometheus
  • 📜 Elon Musk Is Convinced He’s the Future. We Need to Look Beyond Him by Paris Marx
  • 🎙️ AI Hype Machine w/ Meredith Whittaker, Ed Ongweso Jr., and Sarah West by The Dig
• 6. The Owners of the New Machine Age
  • 🎙️ More Human After All ft. Brian Merchant by TRASHFUTURE
  • 🗞️ Transport Apps Promised to Eliminate Friction. But at What Cost? by Paris Marx

Author event with Brian Merchant: Wednesday, September 11th (doors at 6 p.m., virtual discussion at 6:30)

Full schedule at victorgom.es/neoluddite