Part 2/11:
In January 1812, on a cold winter night near Nottingham, England, William Ball’s textile manufacturing unit was attacked by a group wielding sledgehammers. This incident marked the beginning of protests against mechanization, as workers feared job loss and economic upheaval. Over time, these protests evolved into broader resistance against industrialization’s rapid automation of manual labor. The comparison underscores that resistance to transformative technology is not new—what's changing is the context and the tools at play, with current challenges centered around AI rather than mechanized machinery.