I would argue that _this_ time may not be different, but there will come a time when it _will_ be different. The luddites, if taking the extremely long view, will eventually be proven correct.<p>The _maximum capabilities_ of machines are ever improving, while the maximum capabilities of humans remain roughly stagnant [1]. Originally, we had humans distributed across the entire labor market, while machines had a maximum capacity of essentially 0 and performed no labor.<p>When the capacity of machines grew, it displaced the original luddites. While the transition was painful for those displaced at the time, ultimately humans were generally able to move &quot;up&quot; in the labor market. Today the maximum capacity of machines is increasing again. But, again, while painful for people being displaced there&#x27;s still room for humans to move &quot;up&quot; in the labor market. Hopefully, again, discovering a new wealth of labor tasks that can be performed at these levels.<p>But a day will come when that&#x27;s no longer sufficient. At some point the capacity for machines will equal that of humans. I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s &quot;now&quot;, but I do think it&#x27;s going to happen in the next couple hundred or so years.<p>[1] There is definitely growth of the maximum ability of humans over time, but it is a much slower growth than that of machines.