The problem isn't the machine, it's the economic system that allows some dude to capture and hoard the surplus produced by replacing the human with the machine.
The machine and the operator are a superorganism system. Looking to place blame on one or a nebulous external cause is intellectually and morally dishonest because it denies culpability for specific instances of harm.
Humans that want to do something impractical / useless can still do it. People do that all the time. See, boats in bottles, digging tunnels, etc.