First published 2014
Digital technologies are reshaping the world at an unprecedented pace. Google's self-driving vehicles have traveled thousands of miles on highways while IBM's Watson has defeated top human competitors on Jeopardy. MIT researchers Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee examine how machines equipped with advanced hardware, software, and networks will soon outperform doctors in diagnosing illness, revolutionize retail through massive data analysis, and master tasks once thought exclusively human. The authors argue this technological shift will deliver remarkable benefits including sophisticated personal devices, improved infrastructure, and unlimited access to cultural content. However, this progress comes with significant disruption as careers from legal practice to trucking face elimination, forcing businesses to adapt or fail. Current economic data shows fewer people employed and declining wages despite rising productivity and corporate profits. Brynjolfsson and McAfee propose strategies for navigating this transition, including educational reform focused on future economic needs, partnerships combining computational power with human creativity, and policies suited to a transformed world. Their optimistic vision offers readers a roadmap to prosperity in the digital age.
Genres: science, business, economics, non-fiction, technology, 21st-century, artificial-intelligence, computer-science
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: optimistic-vision
Setting: Google, IBM, MIT
Period: Present Day
320 pages · Hardcover · W. W. Norton & Company