Quote of the day by pioneer of cybernetics Norbert Wiener: 'The automated machine is the economic equivalent of slave labour' foreshadowing the displacement of human labor in the years to come

Date:
Sun, 02 Aug 2026 22:00:00 +0000

Description:
Before the term AI was even coined, scientists were warning about the potential for intelligent machines to replace humans

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter For as long as humanity has envisioned a future co-existing with machines, there have been fears that labor could be displaced. These fears first sparked during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, but have continued in the years since. Most
recently, the rise of generative AI has raised these fears once again. "Let
us remember that the automatic machine... is the precise economic equivalent of slave labor. Any labor which competes with slave labor must accept the economic consequences of slave labor." Norbert Wiener, 1948 Rage against the machine The American mathematician Norbert Wiener pioneered cybernetics and summarized his thoughts on the subject in his famous 1948 book 'Cybernetics
or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine'. Quote of the day This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here . Cybernetics was a branch of science that studied the mechanisms of control in animals and machines, focusing on feedback loops, self-regulation, and system behavior.
It was a precursor to the field that we now know as artificial intelligence. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

In this book, he opined on the consequences of replacing human judgement and decision-making across the economy with machines. In particular, he likened
an employer using machines to using slave labor, with humans required to compete in this new arena in a race to the bottom. This time, it's different Fears around the displacement of humans in the workplace, largely in industrial contexts, were ripe, but ultimately didn't exactly pan out due to the fact that new forms of labor were required. This is a trend that has persisted to this day, with advances in automation and robotics doing nothing to meaningfully increase the unemployment rate. You may like 'Some creative jobs maybe will go away, but maybe they shouldn't have been there in the
first place' - quote of the day by ex-OpenAI CTO Mira Murati "With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon" quote of the day by Elon Musk The AI job apocalypse is a myth. We need more human talent than ever before

However, the rise of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), as well as newer forms of the technology like agentic AI, can for the first time demonstrate attempts to mimic cognitive competency.

Although unemployment hasn't dramatically increased in recent years, analysis shows that AI adoption has impacted the number of entry-level roles available in the labor market. Research also shows the effect won't be felt uniformly, with some job roles likely to be more at risk of redundancy than others. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro
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