Three decades ago, Ted Kaczynski, in his manifesto Industrial Society and Its Future, issued stark warnings about the trajectory of technological advancement, particularly the rise of artificial intelligence. His insights, once dismissed as fringe or alarmist, have proven to be strikingly prescient, as many of the ethical, social, and existential dilemmas surrounding AI that he outlined are now at the forefront of global discourse. Kaczynski foresaw a world in which technology, rather than serving humanity, would increasingly shape and control it, eroding individual autonomy and concentrating power in the hands of elites who wield technology as a tool of domination.
In addition to his concerns about AI and technological overreach, Kaczynski also critiqued leftist ideology, arguing that it would play a significant role in accelerating the expansion of state and corporate control under the guise of progress. He warned that ideological movements, particularly those rooted in collectivism and enforced conformity, could be weaponized to suppress dissent and further entrench centralized authority. As modern political and cultural landscapes continue to shift in ways that echo his warnings, his critiques remain a subject of contentious but undeniable relevance.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Technological Domination
Kaczynski wrote extensively about the dangers of an overreliance on technology and the ways in which it would lead to human subjugation. In Industrial Society and Its Future, he warns that technological systems inevitably “tend to escape from human control” and that society will increasingly be shaped by those who wield the most advanced technology rather than by democratic or individual will. He writes:
Once a technical innovation has been introduced, people usually become dependent on it, unless it is replaced by some still more advanced innovation. Not only do people become dependent as individuals, but, even more, the system as a whole becomes dependent on it.
This prediction is particularly relevant in the age of artificial intelligence, where individuals, businesses, and governments have grown dependent on automated systems. From algorithmic decision-making in finance and law enforcement to the use of AI in shaping public opinion through targeted advertising and social media manipulation, technology has evolved into an autonomous force that influences nearly every aspect of human life. Kaczynski’s warning that “the system does not and cannot exist to satisfy human needs” is proving increasingly true, as AI-driven mechanisms prioritize efficiency and control over human well-being.
Moreover, Kaczynski highlighted the risk of people adapting their behaviors and lifestyles to accommodate technology, rather than the other way around. He argued:
Modern industrial society compels people to live under conditions radically different from those under which the human race evolved and to behave in ways that conflict with the patterns of behavior that the human race developed while living under earlier, more primitive conditions.
This suggests that as artificial intelligence integrates deeper into society, individuals will be forced to conform to its demands, whether through the surveillance state, algorithmic control over personal choices, or even social credit systems. The more humans allow AI to dictate their behaviors, the less autonomy they retain over their own lives. In one of his most frequently quoted passages, Kaczynski brilliantly observes:
If the machines are permitted to make all their own decisions, we can’t make any conjectures as to the results, because it is impossible to guess how such machines might behave. We only point out that the fate of the human race would be at the mercy of the machines. It might be argued that the human race would never be foolish enough to hand over all power to the machines. But we are suggesting neither that the human race would voluntarily turn power over to the machines nor that the machines would willfully seize power. What we do suggest is that the human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but to accept all of the machines’ decisions.
As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and as machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more and more of their decisions for them, simply because machine-made decisions will bring better results than man-made ones. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human beings will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won’t be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them off would amount to suicide.
Leftist Ideology as a Mechanism of Control
In addition to technological concerns, Kaczynski argued that certain ideological trends — particularly those associated with leftist movements — would be used to justify and accelerate the expansion of technological control. He wrote:
The leftist is oriented toward large-scale collectivism. He emphasizes the duty of the individual to serve society and the duty of society to take care of the individual.
Kaczynski believed that this emphasis on collectivism, while ostensibly aimed at promoting equality and justice, would ultimately serve as a justification for the increasing centralization of power. He saw ideological conformity as a necessary component in maintaining a technologically controlled society, where dissenting views could be suppressed under the pretense of protecting social stability. This perspective aligns with contemporary debates over free speech, cancel culture, DEI, “trans rights” vs. women’s rights, and the role of ideology in shaping public discourse.
Furthermore, he argued that leftists often exhibit an underlying psychological need for control, using moral crusades to impose their values on others. He wrote:
Leftists tend to hate anything that has an image of being strong, good and successful. They hate America, they hate Western civilization, they hate white males, they hate rationality.
While this claim is controversial, Kaczynski’s broader argument is that ideological movements are often driven not merely by a pursuit of justice but by an underlying desire to dominate, control, and reshape society according to their vision. This tendency, when combined with the power of AI and surveillance technology, could result in an unprecedented level of social engineering and censorship. Alarmingly, we’ve seen this trend amplified in recent years, with leftist authoritarianism on the rise, both in the U.S. during COVID, as well as in countries like the United Kingdom and Germany — where the simple act of liking or sharing a social media post can now result in the seizure of your personal property and land you in prison for months.
Kaczynski goes on to predict our current state of leftist-driven Big Tech censorship, surveillance, and social control with amazing accuracy, stating:
Some leftists may seem to oppose technology, but they will oppose it only so long as they are outsiders and the technological system is controlled by non-leftists. If leftism ever becomes dominant in society, so that the technological system becomes a tool in the hands of leftists, they will enthusiastically use it and promote its growth. In doing this they will be repeating a pattern that leftism has shown again and again in the past.
When the Bolsheviks in Russia were outsiders, they vigorously opposed censorship and the secret police, they advocated self-determination for ethnic minorities, and so forth; but as soon as they came into power themselves, they imposed a tighter censorship and created a more ruthless secret police than any that had existed under the tsars, and they oppressed ethnic minorities at least as much as the tsars had done. In the United States, a couple of decades ago when leftists were a minority in our universities, leftist professors were vigorous proponents of academic freedom, but today, in those of our universities where leftists have become dominant, they have shown themselves ready to take away from everyone else’s academic freedom. (This is “political correctness.”) The same will happen with leftists and technology: They will use it to oppress everyone else if they ever get it under their own control.
The Convergence of AI and Ideological Enforcement
The intersection of AI and ideological enforcement is one of the most concerning aspects of Kaczynski’s warnings. The use of artificial intelligence in content moderation, the suppression of free speech, predictive policing, workplace monitoring, and widespread governmental surveillance illustrates how technology can be leveraged to enforce ideological norms. Kaczynski cautioned against this when he stated:
Modern industrial society can’t afford to let the individual go his own way. He must be docile, he must be dependent on the system, he must fit into a standard mold.
As AI systems increasingly determine what can and cannot be said on digital platforms, and as governments and corporations implement automated systems to enforce compliance, his prediction appears eerily accurate. The combination of centralized technological control with ideological enforcement creates an environment in which true individual autonomy becomes nearly impossible.
AI is also being used to shape the way people think by filtering the information they receive. Recommendation algorithms, search engine biases, and automated censorship all contribute to an environment in which dissenting opinions are systematically marginalized. Kaczynski’s warning about “the system” shaping human thought has become an undeniable reality as individuals find themselves increasingly at the mercy of AI-driven content curation.
The system needs people who are docile, who can be manipulated, who will submit to being shaped and programmed into what the system requires.
This observation highlights how AI is not merely a neutral tool but a mechanism for programming human behavior. The more advanced AI becomes, the more effective it will be at shaping public perception and eliminating opposition to the prevailing technological-collectivist order.
Kaczynski further warns us on the dangers inherent in leftist ideology:
Leftism is a totalitarian force. Wherever leftism is in a position of power it tends to invade every private corner and force every thought into a leftist mold. In part this is because of the quasi-religious character of leftism; everything contrary to leftist beliefs represents Sin. More importantly, leftism is a totalitarian force because of the leftists’ drive for power. The leftist seeks to satisfy his need for power through identification with a social movement and he tries to go through the power process by helping to pursue and attain the goals of the movement. … But no matter how far the movement has gone in attaining its goals the leftist is never satisfied, because his activism is a surrogate activity. … That is, the leftist’s real motive is not to attain the ostensible goals of leftism; in reality he is motivated by the sense of power he gets from struggling for and then reaching a social goal.
Consequently the leftist is never satisfied with the goals he has already attained; his need for the power process leads him always to pursue some new goal. The leftist wants equal opportunities for minorities. When that is attained he insists on statistical equality of achievement by minorities. And as long as anyone harbors in some corner of his mind a negative attitude toward some minority, the leftist has to re-educated him. And ethnic minorities are not enough; no one can be allowed to have a negative attitude toward homosexuals, disabled people, fat people, old people, ugly people, and on and on and on. …
Suppose you asked leftists to make a list of ALL the things that were wrong with society, and then suppose you instituted EVERY social change that they demanded. It is safe to say that within a couple of years the majority of leftists would find something new to complain about, some new social “evil” to correct because, once again, the leftist is motivated less by distress at society’s ills than by the need to satisfy his drive for power by imposing his solutions on society.
Conclusion
While Kaczynski’s actions as the Unabomber rightly cast him as a criminal, his intellectual critiques of technological society and leftist ideology continue to resonate. His warnings about artificial intelligence, technological control, and ideological conformity have proven to be alarmingly relevant as modern societies grapple with the rapid advancements of AI and the increasing constraints on individual freedom. By revisiting Industrial Society and Its Future, we gain valuable insights into the perils of unchecked technological expansion and the ideological frameworks that enable it.
The fusion of AI with ideological enforcement mechanisms presents a unique and unprecedented challenge. If Kaczynski is correct in his predictions, we are not merely facing a loss of freedom but a total restructuring of human civilization along technological-collectivist lines. Whether or not one agrees with his conclusions, it is undeniable that many of the issues he predicted are now at the center of global debates. The question remains: will society recognize these dangers in time to prevent them from spiraling out of control, or are we already past the point of no return?
Read Ted Kaczynski’s entire Industrial Society and Its Future for free.