How to Use AI Without Becoming Its Employee

Reclaiming technology from the cult of efficiency.

Most workplace AI training focuses on one thing: how to get more work done, faster. But who benefits from all that productivity? The original Luddites weren't afraid of technology. They were skilled workers who challenged technologies that reduced their autonomy, devalued their expertise, and concentrated power in the hands of employers. Today's AI revolution raises many of the same questions.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore what the Luddites actually believed and why their ideas remain relevant in an age of algorithmic management, workplace surveillance and relentless optimisation. Through practical exercises and real workplace scenarios, you'll learn to distinguish between AI that augments human judgement and creativity, and AI designed primarily to monitor, standardise or extract more labour.

Working directly with contemporary AI tools, participants will experiment with using AI to support research, creativity, critical thinking and decision-making rather than simply accelerating output. By the end of the workshop, you'll have a practical framework for deciding when and how to use AI, and the confidence to question the assumption that faster is always better.

What to bring: a laptop, one workplace process that drives you mad, an example of AI you've been told will make your life easier, and an open mind.

Aubrey Blanche: Director of Ethical Advisory & Strategic Partnerships at The Ethics Centre, with over 13 years in multinational technology companies advising on organisational responsibility, and a masters student in AI Ethics and Society at the University of Cambridge.

Location: The Ethics Centre, Level 1, 161 Castlereagh St, Sydney 2000. Sessions run for 120 mins and include afternoon tea.