Artificial intelligence is the asbestos of our times. “Colliding with the frustration of millions of people”

In 1900, Ludwig Hatschek filed a patent application for a new material composed of a mixture of Portland cement and asbestos fibers. This material was the result of his long-term research and experiments. Fireproof and durable at low temperatures, as well as light and flexible, the new material was perfect especially for roofing, without burdening the structure and at the same time having all the advantages of competing materials. Or rather: having no competition. Hatschek called his discovery “eternit”, from the Latin word “aeternus”, meaning eternal.

This was the beginning of a decades-long career of one of the deadliest innovations in history. Eternit was used primarily for roofs, but it was also used to make pipes, fire insulation, gutters, window sills, and wall panels in rooms exposed to moisture. In addition to being eternal – that is, basically indestructible – it was also cheap to produce, which opened up the global construction market to it. For the latter, based largely on wood, in the context of huge fires ravaging growing urban agglomerations, eternit was an ideal solution.

Although asbestosis, resulting from exposure to asbestos fibers, was first medically described in 1924, and in the following years the relationship between asbestosis and other lung diseases was recognized, the career of asbestosis continued in full swing. In fact, its flowering was just about to begin: after World War II, in Europe devastated by war. Asbestos producers, such as the British Turner & Newall and the American Johns Manville, although they were well aware of the risks associated with the use of this material in construction, for many years effectively silenced any attempts to regulate and limit construction using asbestos.

Harmful innovations