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

Written by Martin Ford

Narrated by Jeff Cummings

In a world of self-driving cars and big data, smart algorithms and Siri, we know that artificial intelligence is getting smarter every day. Though all these nifty devices and programs might make our lives easier, they're also well on their way to making "good" jobs obsolete. A computer winning Jeopardy might seem like a trivial, if impressive, feat, but the same technology is making paralegals redundant as it undertakes electronic discovery, and is soon to do the same for radiologists. And that, no doubt, will only be the beginning.

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 Rise of the Robots asks a bigger question: can accelerating technology disrupt our entire economic system to the point where a fundamental restructuring is required? Companies like Facebook and YouTube may only need a handful of employees to achieve enormous valuations, but what will be the fate of those of us not lucky or smart enough to have gotten into the great shift from human labor to computation?

The more Pollyannaish, or just simply uninformed, might imagine that this industrial revolution will unfold like the last: even as some jobs are eliminated, more will be created to deal with the new devices of a new era. In Rise of the Robots, Martin Ford argues that is absolutely not the case. Increasingly, machines will be able to take care of themselves, and fewer jobs will be necessary. The effects of this transition could be shattering. Unless we begin to radically reassess the fundamentals of how our economy works, we could have both an enormous population of the unemployed-the truck drivers, warehouse workers, cooks, lawyers, doctors, teachers, programmers, and many, many more, whose labors have been rendered superfluous by automated and intelligent machines-and a general economy that, bereft of consumers, implodes under the weight of its own contradictions. We are at an inflection point-do we continue to listen to those who argue that nothing fundamental has changed, and take a bad bet on a miserable future, or do we begin to discuss what we must do to ensure all of us, and not just the few, benefit from the awesome power of artificial intelligence? The time to choose is now.

Rise of the Robots is a both an exploration of this new technology and a call to arms to address its implications. Written by a successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, this is a book that cannot be dismissed as the ranting of a Luddite or an outsider. Ford has seen the future, and he knows that for some of us, the rise of the robots will be very frightening indeed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: May 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781480574755

Martin Ford

Martin Ford is a futurist and the author of three books: Rise of the Robots, winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015, Architects of Intelligence, and The Lights in the Tunnel. He is also the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm.

Reviews for Rise of the Robots

[Vambah Sillah · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

great book... totally makes you think about your kids prospects in a world that is being mechanised and automated. it's a clarion call for civic leaders, folks in the technology industry, folks in the retail industry, heck- he basically hits everyone. I'll definitely come back to the one a few times over!

[Mike Smith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While the subject matter was great, the author talked about climate change, the economy, sociology and politics away too much.

[Jordan C · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many people don’t believe that automation will have a large impact on our society in the near future or ever but those people would learn a lot by reading this book. He covers so many aspects of how it’s going to change everything and likely pretty soon. If you like learning about or thinking about what the future holds for us, this is a must-read.

[Rishabh Mehta · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book to know what’s coming in every work field.

[Amber mckinley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well researched and thought out. Very interesting and insightful

[Catalin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a good book, interesting ideas, but if you follow the progress of AI and robotic in blogs and websites dedicated to advance technologys you will not find news ideas in this books, but if you are not a tech person but, if you want to find what are the new trends in technology, if you have kids and whant to see what there future could be, it will be a good book.

[Simon Olovsson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Superb book. Very good narrator and packed with scenarios about the future.

[OmarEl-Mohri · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Good, The bad, The Ugly about Robots and our future!
The idea I loved is that “in the future, the less we rely on humain, there will be less money to spend, thus, less incentive to invest on robotics” if this is the case, there is than an equilibrium in sight?

[David FujiRamos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I fucking loved this mother fucking book that I will recommend it