[After finding that the “self destruct cancellation’ button is out of order] “Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!” – Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis, Spaceballs, 1987)
Today’s post was written by Nicole L. Murph, ’04, reference and instruction librarian.
There is a lot of hype and excitement surrounding artificial intelligence (AI), specifically generative AI, especially in its marketing. There are also many concerns about AI. Academic libraries are not excluded from this conversation. Some of us in our field are excited in our exploration of AI while there are others who have reservations. I am part of the latter group.
As a librarian, I study the ethical implications of emerging technologies closely. For me, the discussion of ethics is not just about AI, but how pervasive and integrated technology is in our day-to-day lives, its detrimental impact on the planet, and about the need to examine the people behind the corporatization of these technologies. AI is moving fast; and the resistance against it is important and part of an ongoing history of resistance against technology. One of the most notable movements in this history were the Luddites, a group of artisans, weavers, and textile workers in 19th century England who protested by notably breaking machines–the new mechanized technology that ushered in the First Industrial Revolution–that were displacing workers and destroying the environment.
Who Were the Luddites?
Folks have been dropping the word “Luddite” a lot lately, but they do so with coyness or hesitancy as though they do not want to fully admit they could be a Luddite themselves–like it’s a bad thing. In our time, the generalized definition (or, at least, the casual use) of the word Luddite is someone who is opposed to all technology and technological change (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Historically, the Luddites were a movement in 19th century England that, yes, opposed the technology that the First Industrial Revolution was bringing to the scene and making significant changes in how people lived, how they worked, the quality of the products made, what they consumed, their relationship to the machine, their relationship to the employer, and changes in the physical environment. Sound familiar?
A fellow librarian colleague recommended a book to me by Kirkpatrick Sale (1996), “Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution.” As Sale (1996) argues, the Luddites had a far more complex view and reaction to technology. They were not against all technology. With the Luddites, “the question is not whether one uses or abstains from technology–all societies since the earliest have used tools, and speech itself was one of the first technologies–but whether, taken in the broadest context and longest run, that technology is benign or malevolent to the user, to the community around, to the culture, to the environment, to the future” (Sale, 1996).
For example, a typewriter–a technological tool–does little to no harm to humanity and the environment. The Luddite movement warned society to “beware the technological juggernaut, reckon the terrible costs, understand the worlds being lost in the world being gained, reflect on the price of the machine and its systems on your life, pay attention to the natural world and its increasing destruction, resist the seductive catastrophe of industrialism” (Sale, 1996). The Luddites challenged not only how the machine was harming society and the Earth, but they challenged the industrial and capitalistic structures in relationship with the machine.
A Librarian’s Perspective
As a librarian, one of the components of librarianship is the exploration of “emerging technologies.” I remember when I was studying for my library degree, I was introduced to this aspect of librarianship. A part of me understood the need and a part of me cringed. On the one hand, librarians need to explore new technologies, understand how they work, the impact they will have on the work we do and how will we pivot accordingly, how they may help our users, the impact the technologies will have on information in the context of quality of information, how users retrieve and consume information, and so forth. For example, since ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, my colleagues and I have been exploring generative AI research tools such as ChatGPT, Connected Papers, and Research Rabbit. On the other hand, part of me cringes at how marketing typically over-hypes emerging technologies. Even in library school–at the time I attended–it was “yay emerging technologies are amazing!” with little space for conversation on not just the benefits but also the negative effects of these technologies, to say nothing of discussions on ethics.
I understand how some technologies can be useful and helpful, but at the same time, I side-eye technologies like AI. No, technologies such as AI are not going to save us, solve all the inequalities and injustices in the world, nor save the planet itself. Honestly, we’re witnessing in real time the opposite happening. Technologies such as AI are part of the continuation or the evolving of colonialism, especially data colonialism.
When I teach library instruction and talk with students about generative AI, I ask them if they think these tools are biased or not. Some will say they are biased. Other students will say the technology is not biased because “it is a machine, and not human.” I counter back asking them: Who are the people, corporations, and governments that funded and built these machines? And what are their visions and/or purposes in doing so? These machines pull information from all over the internet to train their large language models (LLMs). Aren’t there biases in that method or the data that is consumed?
In Rhetorical Arts classes, I ask students how many of them are aware of AI’s impact on the environment. In classes of approximately twenty students each, thus far, usually less than five students raise their hands. I will often conduct a mini deep dive on the impact AI has on the environment by focusing on data centers. I use case studies of data centers built in Arizona and in Mexico. These are in areas where communities are hard hit by climate change and as a result experience drought, food and water shortages, rising costs of electricity placed on the locals (not on the corporations, i.e., Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc.), and have to deal with pollutants released in the air with the “alternative use” of nuclear energies.
The students will often go quiet afterwards and I will semi-joke, “Well, now that I depressed you with the behind-the-scenes realities of AI, let’s lighten things up and do a tour of our library guides!” I remind students the importance of them being aware of the realities of how technology such as AI is created, who created it and why, what is going on behind-the-scenes to produce the information they expect (or hope) to receive, and to be critical of the quality of information that is being delivered and spreading.
Ultimately, my goal is to help students to critically assess these technologies and, if they need to use them, to do so responsibly. I hope students can reflect and put into action ways they can reimagine our present and the future in our relationship with technology. I remind students we have autonomy–a choice and a choice to say ‘no’ when we need to–and not let the machine have control of us. In other words, let’s not be subservient to AI and Big Tech. It is the same, if not similar, critical mindset the Luddites had towards the machines in the 19th century.
Nicole will be publishing two articles in Library Trends this summer: A group article co-written with reference and instruction librarian colleagues, Susan Gardner Archambault and Shalini Ramachandran, “Fostering AI Literacy in Undergraduates: A ChatGPT Workshop Case Study” and a solo article, “Beyond Information Literacy: Exploring AI’s Impact on Labor in Academic Libraries.”
References
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Luddite. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved May 1, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Luddite
Sale, K. (1996). Rebels Against the Future: The Luddites and Their War on the Industrial Revolution. Perseus Publishing.