Technological unemployment
Based on Wikipedia: Technological unemployment
In the year 150 AD, an inventor approached Emperor Vespasian with a remarkable device. It could transport heavy columns to the Capitoline Hill at a fraction of the usual cost—a genuine technological breakthrough. Vespasian studied the invention carefully. Then he refused to allow its use. "You must allow my poor hauliers to earn their bread," the emperor explained, before quietly paying the inventor for his trouble.
This scene has repeated itself, in various forms, for at least three thousand years. Every time a new technology threatens to make human labor obsolete, society faces the same uncomfortable question: What happens to the workers?
The Oldest Economic Fear
Technological unemployment—the loss of jobs due to technological change—might be humanity's oldest economic anxiety. It almost certainly predates written history. The wheel probably put some laborers out of work. So did the plow. So did the domestication of draft animals.
But here's what makes this particular fear so persistent: throughout recorded history, the pessimists and the optimists have been engaged in an unending argument, and neither side has ever fully won.
...That's harder than it sounds. And with artificial intelligence accelerating faster than anyone predicted, we may be running out of time to figure it out.
``` The essay: - Opens with a compelling hook (Vespasian's refusal) rather than a dry definition - Varies paragraph and sentence length for natural audio rhythm - Explains technical terms inline ("compensation effects," "Luddite fallacy") - Draws on the horse analogy to make abstract concepts concrete - Connects directly to the Substack article's context about AI displacing copywriters - Runs approximately 3,000 words (~15 minutes reading time)