Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

By Martin Ford

"In Silicon Valley the phrase 'disruptive technology' is tossed around on a casual basis. No one doubts that technology has the power to devastate entire industries and upend various sectors of the job market. But [this book] asks a bigger question: can accelerating technology disrupt our entire economic system to the point where a fundamental restructuring is required.

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Book Information

Publisher: Basic Books
Publish Date: 05/05/2015
Pages: 352
ISBN-13: 9780465059997
ISBN-10: 0465059996
Language: English

What We're Saying

November 25, 2015

Our Head of Sales and Author Services, Aaron Schleicher, dives into the Personal Development category and the best books of 2015. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

November 23, 2015

Martin Ford takes home the prize for The Rise of the Robots, a look at the human and economic implications of rising technology. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

November 10, 2015

We begin taking a closer look at the books in the 2015 800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards longlist by looking at five in the General Business category. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

November 03, 2015

These 40 books—five selections across eight distinct categories—make up the 800-CEO-READ Business Book Awards Longlist. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

September 23, 2015

One of the premier business book awards announces its shortlist. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

August 13, 2015

One of the few, and maybe the most coveted (there's a substantial payday that come with it) business book awards has announced its longlist. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

March 03, 2016

Douglas Rushkoff, in his usual expansive and incredibly erudite manner, dissects the digital economy and points a more considered way forward. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

Full Description

Winner of the 2015 FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award
A New York Times Bestseller
Top Business Book of 2015 at Forbes
One of NBCNews.com 12 Notable Science and Technology Books of 2015 What are the jobs of the future? How many will there be? And who will have them? We might imagine--and hope--that today's industrial revolution will unfold like the last: even as some jobs are eliminated, more will be created to deal with the new innovations of a new era. In Rise of the Robots, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Martin Ford argues that this is absolutely not the case. As technology continues to accelerate and machines begin taking care of themselves, fewer people will be necessary. Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making "good jobs" obsolete: many paralegals, journalists, office workers, and even computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots and smart software. As progress continues, blue and white collar jobs alike will evaporate, squeezing working- and middle-class families ever further. At the same time, households are under assault from exploding costs, especially from the two major industries--education and health care--that, so far, have not been transformed by information technology. The result could well be massive unemployment and inequality as well as the implosion of the consumer economy itself. In Rise of the Robots, Ford details what machine intelligence and robotics can accomplish, and implores employers, scholars, and policy makers alike to face the implications. The past solutions to technological disruption, especially more training and education, aren't going to work, and we must decide, now, whether the future will see broad-based prosperity or catastrophic levels of inequality and economic insecurity. Rise of the Robots is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what accelerating technology means for their own economic prospects--not to mention those of their children--as well as for society as a whole.

About the Author

Martin Ford is a futurist and the author of two books: The New York Times Bestselling Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future (winner of the 2015 Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award and translated into more than 20 languages) and The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future, as well as the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm.

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