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Ethan Mollick (@emollick.bsky.social): When people talk about AI easily replacing workers, I think about this ethnography of copier repair technicians in the 1990s. Reading it, you see how work is complicated and improvised by workers and

L2 · PractitionerOpinion & Analysis@emollick.bsky.social· 10/7/2026

Provides historical perspective on technology displacement that's relevant to current AI workplace impact discussions.

AI Summary

Ethnography of 1990s copier technicians shows work is more complex and improvised than assumed, challenging simplistic AI replacement narratives despite eventual automation.

Excerpt

When people talk about AI easily replacing workers, I think about this ethnography of copier repair technicians in the 1990s. Reading it, you see how work is complicated and improvised by workers and informal and badly documented. (But eventually technology did largely eliminate this job)

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