Every new thing was going to kill us
A comforting history of getting it spectacularly wrong.
Whenever something genuinely new arrives, the very same reaction shows up: alarm, dark predictions, and confident nonsense from clever people. Then we get used to it, and forget we were ever afraid. Here is that pattern, over and over — so the next time you hear it about AI, you'll recognise an old, old friend.
The fear
“It will breed forgetfulness in the souls of those who learn it.”
What actually happened
Socrates fretted that writing would wreck our memories and give only the appearance of wisdom. We wrote it down — which is the only reason we know he ever said it.
The fear
“So many books will spread error, and rot the sacred discipline of memory.”
What actually happened
Scholars mourned the death of careful copying. What followed was mass literacy, science, and very nearly the modern world.
The fear
“Dens of idleness and sedition — and the drink makes men feeble and unmanly.”
What actually happened
England briefly tried to ban them. They became the birthplaces of newspapers, insurance, and the Enlightenment.
The fear
“A scandalous French affectation — a real man simply gets wet.”
What actually happened
Jonas Hanway was jeered and pelted in the London streets for carrying one. Today you own at least three, all lost.
The fear
“The body cannot survive 30 mph — you'll suffocate, and your bones will shake clean apart.”
What actually happened
Serious doctors said so in print. We now sleep soundly at ten times that speed, mildly annoyed the café car is closed.
The fear
“Electric shocks down the wire — and the voices of the dead, or the devil, may call.”
What actually happened
People genuinely feared spirits in the line. We now carry one everywhere and chiefly fear it ringing.
The fear
“It ruins the eyes and the morals — honest gaslight, or God's daylight, is safer.”
What actually happened
Whole pamphlets warned against it. You are, in all likelihood, reading under one right now.
The fear
“Beware ‘bicycle face’ — a permanent, haggard grimace from the strain of it.”
What actually happened
Doctors described the affliction in detail; women riders were warned for their health and virtue. No faces were harmed.
The fear
“It hypnotises children, wrecks their concentration, and will spread mass panic.”
What actually happened
It went on to inform, comfort and delight the world for a hundred years — and we moved the worry to the next box.
The fear
“It gives children square eyes, rots the brain, and ends conversation forever.”
What actually happened
We said very nearly the same thing about the four things that came after it, too.
The fear
“Let them use it and children will never learn arithmetic again.”
What actually happened
They learned to use the tool and kept the thinking. The maths teachers are, mostly, fine.
The fear
“A passing fad for the lonely — no serious person will shop, bank or meet there.”
What actually happened
Reader, you are on it. It is, on balance, quite handy.
And now, they say it about AI
You've heard this voice before — about trains, telephones, novels, calculators, even writing itself. It is not a lie, exactly; it's just fear meeting the unfamiliar, doing what it always does. The cure was never to hide from the new thing. It was to walk up, have a proper kōrero with it, and learn to use it well.
Curiosity has aged better than alarm. Every single time.
Kaiārahi