Anti-tech extremism: How AI could become target of political violence

Expert warns that anti-technology sentiment could dramatically increase

Mauro Lubrano warns that anarchists, eco-extremists and eco-fascists could gain more momentum in the anti-technology movement EPA

Major investment in artificial intelligence in countries around the world, along with the societal changes it causes, could lead to a surge in anti-technology extremism, an expert has warned.

Author and technology researcher Mauro Lubrano said that various issues brought about by AI development, such as job losses, might prompt anarchists and eco-terrorists to increase their attempts to make their message more public.

"They believe that technology is a system that is beyond reform and cannot be changed, therefore, it must be dismantled. And they believe the only way to dismantle is to try and accelerate its collapse," Mr Lubrano said on Monday during a discussion hosted by the George Washington University programme on extremism in Washington.

In his new book, researcher Mauro Lubrano says the quickening pace of change could lead to more anti-technology extremism.

He said the potential for AI to disrupt labour, combined with other issues such as the burden it places on energy grids and the environment, means that elements of the far left and far right might be easily co-opted by groups with an extremist anti-technology agenda.

That could come in the form of violence and attacks against infrastructure, said Mr Lubrano, who wrote the book Stop the Machines: The Rise of Anti-Technology Extremism.

He warned that data centres, which have become a symbol of economic aspirations in parts of the world, could also become a target for extremist groups.

Mauro Lubrano says that anti-technology extremism could 'become a major driver of political violence'.

"Technology extremism is quite flexible," Mr Lubrano said, comparing it to the recent anti-vaccine movement. "There's also a Maoist interpretation of anti-technology, whereby they say, 'We need to retreat to the parts of the country' where technology is less strong, and sort of build up strength, build up momentum, and carry out an assault on the centre of technologies."

He said that while researching his book, learning about the groups emerging in the anti-technology extremist movement proved difficult because of their paranoia of anything remotely mainstream, but that paradoxically, because they use technology so much, he was able to gather ample source material.

"You will find their manuals online on how to take down technology and so on, and these extremists are completely aware of the irony and and they also provide justifications for it," he said.

Unlike other extremist movements, Mr Lubrano warned, the increasingly quickening pace of change could give anti-technology extremism significantly more staying power.

Data centres could be viewed by anti-technology extremists as targets, Mauro Lubrano said.

A recent poll from the Pew Research Centre showed an increasing chasm between experts and the general public in terms of enthusiasm for AI in the US.

Experts surveyed by Pew Research were significantly more likely - 56 per cent compared with 17 per cent - than the average American to say that AI would have a "very or somewhat positive" impact in society over the next 20 years.

Pew data also showed that 73 per cent of experts believed AI will have a positive impact on how people do their jobs, while only 23 per cent of the general public felt that way.

Mr Lubrano said that while many concerns about anti-technology extremism are legitimate and worth following up, those seeking to destroy the technological world will probably fail. He said history has shown those with “realist views” about technology, along with government interventions to regulate its impact, have always managed to succeed in winning over hearts and minds.

"We cannot get rid of technology but we can revisit the way that we interact with it to promote activities that foster a more meaningful relationship with one another and with nature," he said.

Mr Lubrano said there was no indication that law enforcement agencies are incapable of dealing with a rising anti-technology extremist threat.

Some level of violence, he said, will always be present "given the nature of many living in a democratic society", adding that "good intelligence" and "good law enforcement" have been able to disrupt similar threats in the past.