lastday.at

You are viewing c. 350 BC

Until the last day of work, 03/20/2030until 03/20/2030 03/20/2030
Today

c.350BC

Aristotle imagines tools that work on their own

In the "Politics", Aristotle writes that if every tool did its own work, "if the shuttles wove and the plectrums played the harp by themselves", master craftsmen would need no assistants, and masters no slaves. It is the first time anyone links automation to the end of forced labor.

Source: Aristóteles, Política 1253b (Perseus)

Bust of Aristotle, Roman copy. Palazzo Altemps, Rome.
Bust of Aristotle, Roman copy. Palazzo Altemps, Rome. Public domain

See it on the timeline

lastday.at tells the story of the machines that gradually took over human work, from ancient Egypt to artificial intelligence, and counts down to the last day of work on Earth: March 20, 2030.

Open the full timeline