In the early 19th century, the Luddite movement protested the unregulated use of automated machinery. Machines were destroyed by skilled textile workers protesting falling wages, dangerous conditions and child labour. While the term Luddite now broadly describes anyone who resists new technology, these workers weren’t inherently anti‑machine. They were simply using one of the few tools they had at their disposal – sabotage – to ensure the introduction of new technology wasn’t at the expense of their livelihood, their community and their class.

With technology companies talking up the potential of AI, workers are facing a similar fear; an omnipresent, undetermined spectre of technology that could be a friend or a foe.

Those fears are valid and they’re real. Industries that our workforce has occupied for years – manufacturing, construction, business, automation, clerical work – could find themselves victim to technological advancements that devalue their labour and deskill the workforce.

That’s where an organised, engaged and recognised trade union becomes invaluable. We’ve been at the forefront of industrial change before – but it is only successful when workers benefit. That’s why we have real concerns about the hyper‑scale data centres in Scotland, seemingly essential to ambitions to capture data‑intensive technologies like AI.

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As it stands, there are 24 hyperscale data centre........

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