King's College London

Professor David Edgerton of our Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine was interviewed for the cover article of the Financial Times’ April 28th Arts and Life section, 'Big Tech v Big Brother: how do you view technology?’

The article challenges the recent public obsession with the idea that new technology will transform our world - for good or ill. Edgerton argues that there's nothing new about what’s being said now.  Here is an excerpt: “The view that tech will always come up with a solution is depressingly old-fashioned,” Edgerton says with a sigh. “Some people believe in the core of their being that they are telling us something profoundly important. But in fact they are telling us old, old, old stories drawn from the dregs of 20th-century intellectual culture.”