We must endure the torture of the AI chatbot – if only for the freedom of future generations

Perhaps, I wondered as I sat there firmly in a holding position, tinny music on repeat, this was how it felt in the 1760s. The early stages of the Industrial Revolution were underway and one could fathom nothing but irritating inconvenience. Landowners grumbled about the new scarcity of cheap labour as men left the fields and headed for the mills. The once agrarian farmworker missed nipping home for lunch and disliked the rigours of the stuffy, airless factory.