I think you both are walking around the point and not seeing it? It was about how much control the gov./authority can exert all along. During the feudal era, they had sword soldiers but the reach of these was limited because a peasant can fight and make a sword. It is much harder to make a tank or a gun (though drones might change that?), so after the industrial revolution a central auth. can have much control over the individual.

Now with the tech era, you can snoop into people businesses and control in a "softer" way. With AI, you might be able to bypass the knowledge workers who enjoyed a pleasurably life in the last 30 years or so. This is mostly because knowledge workers will sabotage your operation if not treated well.

Now this might not longer be the case as you'd no longer need them. The revolution can't happen if the people have no leverage: 1. either be able to defend against a professional army or 2. are an input in your supply chain and can stop your operations.