The History of Fear – Why Every New Tool Feels Like a Threat at First

Every Time a Tool Gets Smarter, People Panic—Here’s Why That Matters Now

(Alternate titles: “The First Time a Machine Took a Job, It Ended in a Riot” / “AI Art Isn’t the First Technology People Tried to Destroy”)

When the first sewing machines arrived in Paris in the early 1800s, tailors didn’t just complain. They rioted.

They smashed the machines, stormed workshops, and fought to defend the value of their craft. To them, these machines weren’t tools. They were invaders. Proof that their skills—skills passed down, perfected by hand—could suddenly be duplicated at scale.

Sound familiar?

The fear we’re feeling now about AI isn’t new. It’s the next chapter in a very old story.

The Tools That Sparked Revolts

Tailors vs. Sewing Machines
In the 1830s and again in the 1840s, tailors across France and England protested the introduction of sewing machines. They feared the loss of livelihood, sure—but also the loss of dignity. Of being replaced by something faster, cheaper, and not human.

Slide Rule Manufacturers vs. Calculators
When electronic calculators hit the market in the 1970s, companies that made slide rules—a once-essential tool for engineers—collapsed within a few years. Some educators even banned calculators in classrooms, worried they would destroy mathematical understanding forever.

Typists and Stenographers vs. Word Processors
In the 1980s, office workers were warned that computers would make them obsolete. Typing pools vanished. Secretaries worried they’d be replaced. Entire careers built on transcription and formatting began to shift or disappear.

And each time, we heard the same refrains:

  • “This is the end of the industry.”

  • “No one will value real skill anymore.”

  • “This tool is cheating.”

But Then Something Else Happened

Each of these tools—first feared—became normal. Even essential.

Sewing machines didn’t kill fashion. They helped scale it.
Calculators didn’t ruin math. They allowed us to solve bigger problems faster.
Word processors didn’t end writing. They opened the door for more people to participate in it.

And the people who once feared the tools? Many adapted. Some thrived.

So here we are again. Only this time, it’s AI. And the fear feels different.

Why This Feels Deeper

AI doesn’t just speed up a task. It goes further.
It can replicate style. Mimic tone. Compose a symphony. Generate an image from a few words.

And that hits a nerve—not just because of job security, but because it disrupts something more fragile: the illusion that creativity is uniquely ours. That mastery can’t be mechanized. That art must come from struggle to mean something.

But what if this fear, too, is part of the same loop?

What if we’re standing at the same cliff edge we always do before the leap—gripping tightly to the idea that the old way is the only right way?

Want to try Midjourney to create amazing art? 

Get on the waitlist for my upcoming course that walks you through it all. 

Next up: People Will Always Try to Profit from AI


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