The 19th century Luddites, the textile workers of Nottingham, smashed looms and machines with hammers in response to job losses, and shouted their anger at the future that threatened their livelihoods. The descendants of the machine breakers are now turning hammers into keyboards and looms into codes. Precautions should be taken against the wave of sabotage that will complicate the future promised by the age of artificial intelligence.

While artificial intelligence is revolutionizing areas such as health, transportation, finance and agriculture, technological sabotage originating from Neo-Luddite movements is also on the rise. In my article, I would like to draw attention to the sabotage threats against artificial intelligence. I have tried to comprehensively address the nature of these threats, their demographic and global dynamics, their connection with the Luddite legacy, their immediate risks and the strategic measures that need to be taken in the near future for 2025-2030.

The 19th century Luddites (1811-1816) Nottingham textile workers smashed looms and machines with hammers in response to job losses, expressing their anger at a future that threatened their livelihoods. When we look at the actions and movements, the anger of that time appears before us in a modern form today. Today's Neo-Luddites have started a movement due to automation, surveillance and ethical concerns (e.g. data privacy, algorithmic bias). For example; they are taking action by targeting the cooling towers of data centers, autonomous robot lines and lines of code of artificial intelligence models.

So is this new wave a direct legacy of the Luddites or a modern reflection of job losses, fear of control and ethical concerns? The reflection of the fear that technology will put society in trouble in the digital age has become a threat with statistics and real cases rather than a romantic story image. The descendants of the machine breakers of that time have started to turn hammers into keyboards and looms into codes.

Safe Street Rebel’s campaign to install cones in autonomous taxis in San Francisco, Hollywood’s 148-day anti-AI strikes, and Molly Crabapple’s open letter with 4,000 signatures show that the Neo-Luddite resistance has already begun. Although there is no central organization yet, with the power of social media, these scattered movements can turn into a more organized rebellion in the future. A five-minute halt in a production line can cause millions of dollars in losses in the global supply chain.

As AI becomes more widespread in areas such as healthcare, transportation, finance, and agriculture, the devastating impact of threats has also increased.
-22,052 cyber incidents, 12,195 confirmed breaches (2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report DBIR 2025).
-60 percent of breaches are caused by human error (Verizon DBIR 2025).
-The global average cost of a single data breach is $4.88 million (IBM, 2024).
- 31-fold increase in identity spoofing attempts (deepfakes) in two years (Onfido, 2024).
- Deepfake scams in Hong Kong cost $25.6 million. The era of fake signatures in emails is over. Scammers can impersonate executives in video conferences. Deepfakes are a powerful tool to create fear and distrust. (Onfido Report).
- 100+ malicious AI models detected in Hugging Face. A ‘backdoor’ leaked into open source model repositories, invisible, intrusive and destructive actions from the inside, like a knife hidden in fabric. (JFrog & ReversingLabs, 2025).
- Attacks on OT and SCADA systems increased by 18 percent. 708 industrial ransomware incidents occurred in Q1 2025 (Dragos, 2025).
-Deepfake scams have a 2027 loss estimate of $40 billion (Deloitte).

Here are some Neo-Luddite movements that have emerged in scattered groups and fed by different demographic groups:
-Hollywood's 148-day SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, which resulted in contracts banning writers and artists from producing AI scripts (The Atlantic, 2024).
-A campaign to place cones on autonomous taxis (a form of physical sabotage or attention-grabbing) (Safe Street Rebel).
-Resistance to the effects of AI on art and writing with 4,000 signatories (Molly Crabapple's Open Letter) (The Atlantic, 2024).
-The Luddite Club: A growing movement founded in 2021, which has led to a movement against technology and energy, targeting Generation Z, and encouraging young people to disengage from technology and focus on face-to-face interactions (VML, 2023).

-Tech developers resisting companies like OpenAI due to ethical concerns (Cybernews, 2023).

-The influence of social media increases the potential for these movements to turn into an organized rebellion (The Guardian, 2024).

-Movements in Europe due to privacy concerns, job losses in developing countries, and data security in Asia (The Atlantic, 2024).

AI is everywhere; at the center of vital decisions from health and transportation to finance. Vehicles are accessible. Deepfakes can be produced with free applications. Therefore, every component in the AI ​​ecosystem can be a target. 60 percent of breaches are caused by human error (Verizon DBIR 2025). It creates economic and social risks ranging from $4.88 million in data breach costs (IBM, 2024) to $40 billion in deepfake losses (Deloitte, 2027). Precautions and recommendations against sabotage threats;

Firewalls:
-Data centers should be protected with biometric access and backup energy sources (Trend Micro Report).
-AI-supported threat detection and penetration testing (OWASP Guide).
-IoT protection with encrypted communication and automatic updates.
Technical defenses:
-Training to strengthen AI models against manipulation.
-Scalable model verification with lightweight protocols, blockchain-based monitoring.

-Model training to protect data privacy.

-Biometric verification against deepfakes, MFA systems.

-Social media campaigns for disinformation detection.

-AI security-focused hackathons and bug bounty programs.

Measures against social and economic resistance:

-Skill programs against job losses in line with Turkey's 2030 Industrial and Technology Strategy.

-Campaigns emphasizing the benefits of AI (precision agriculture, fraud prevention).

Developing ethical AI:

-Transparent algorithms that reduce bias and increase social trust (NIST Framework).

-Human-centered designs for ethical decision-making processes.

Political and legal framework:
-Compliance with the EU AI Act should be achieved by 2027 (OWASP Guide).
-Legal deterrence against sabotage.

-Increase AI security research.

Policy roadmap:

-Reskilling financing.

-Public campaigns (deepfake awareness).

-Bureaucratic coordination.

Public awareness and participation:

-Education campaigns should be organized for deepfake awareness (targeting the elderly population, like Turkey’s ‘Silver Digital Wave’).

-Dialogue platforms should be created that unite workers, ethicists, and technology leaders (The Atlantic, 2024).

Scenarios that simulate sabotage scenarios should be planned.

Resistance systems should be created to strengthen digital infrastructures.

Narratives that increase public trust emphasizing the benefits of AI should be organized.

AI is a locomotive that will carry humanity into the future. However, ‘Neo-Luddite’-like movements should not be ignored. We can call such movements the footsteps of rebellion. With the power of social media, precautions should be taken now to prevent these movements from turning into a more organized threat and spreading to our country.

Studies and precautions should be implemented to protect the transformative potential of artificial intelligence. All stakeholders should come together and cooperate to shape the future of artificial intelligence. Academics should examine sociotechnical dynamics. Our national policies should be strengthened. Technical defenses should be developed by artificial intelligence and cybersecurity experts. Ethical, security and social risks should be analyzed well. We should see the threats coming with this wave of sabotage that is on the rise and will make the future promised by technology difficult in the age of artificial intelligence, and we should start taking the necessary precautions now with the right steps.