I have to admit, me and AI aren’t exactly friends. I hate the idea of artificial intelligence taking away artists’ jobs, turning all content into lifeless pieces written by computers and eliminating the need for anyone to actually use their brains. While I admit that I should probably be less skeptical of these advancements, being wary of technology is nothing new.
We took a trip to the Pessimists Archive, a project that features news clippings from the past warning about the dangers of technology, and gathered some of their most fascinating posts below. So keep reading to find a conversation with Louis Anslow, the creator of the archive, and enjoy scrolling through these interesting articles from way back when!
More info: Newsletter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | XRead More: “Fear Of Old Things When They Were New”: 30 Interesting Vintage Newspaper Clippings
#1
1891 had deepfake p**n too
Image credits: instagram
#2
Image credits: instagram
#3
Image credits: instagram
#4
Image credits: instagram
#5
Image credits: instagram
#6
Image credits: instagram
#7
Theory about Spanish Flu from 1919
Image credits: instagram
#8
“Movies, radios, automobiles and popular fiction are to blame for the inability of the modern pupil to concentrate.”- The Gazette, Montreal, 1926
Image credits: instagram
#9
Image credits: instagram
#10
Image credits: instagram
#11
Image credits: instagram
#12
Image credits: instagram
#13
Image credits: instagram
#14
1927: Professor blames Jazz for decrease in bodily health after performing thousands of autopsies on mummies. Yearns for the good old days of ancient Egypt.
Image credits: instagram
#15
Image credits: instagram
#16
“Doctors say there is no doubt that sheer fright at the sight of the masked throngs caused insanity” (1919)
Image credits: instagram
#17
“It holds a greater danger for this country, if not handled properly, than it has ever held for any country in the history of the world” – Elko Independent, 1915
Image credits: instagram
#18
1928 screed against colour TV
Image credits: instagram
#19
Image credits: instagram
#20
Image credits: instagram
#21
Man yearns for the good old days of 1860 when kids didn’t have info overload (1910)
“If they got back to the simplicity of fifty years ago, when books were fewer, they would find that the children would take more interest in a better class of books.”
Image credits: instagram
#22
Image credits: instagram
#23
The Social Network, 1928
Image credits: instagram
#24
Childhood ruined! – The Evening Independent – Dec 7, 1939
Image credits: instagram
#25
Image credits: instagram
#26
1941 warning about ‘radio time’
Image credits: instagram
#27
You Might Also Like: 31 Facts About The Middle Ages That Are 100% True Despite Being Quite Weird
Image credits: instagram