Is the industrial revolution a good comparison for AI?

How did society change during the industrial revolution? Are there lessons we can learn for the age of AI?

In this episode of Ideas in Development, Deena Mousa and Oliver Hanney talk to Bruno Caprettini about one of the most common historical analogies people make when talking about AI: the industrial revolution.

We discuss how British society, and the economy, changed in real time during this historical period of unprecedented technological change. What did technological change actually look like when it first unfolded? How long did it take for living standards to rise? And what kinds of disruption and backlash showed up along the way? We also discuss the ways in which AI is similar, and different, to this period of history.