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  • Rise of the Robots

  • Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future
  • By: Martin Ford
  • Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
  • Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (680 ratings)
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Rise of the Robots

By: Martin Ford
Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
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Summary

Winner of the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2015.

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 need only 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?

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 an audiobook 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.

©2015 Martin Ford (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Critic reviews

"Alarming...surreal...it is time to be afraid, very afraid.... For the moment there is no hope that the rise of the robots will not be accompanied by the fall of the humans." ( Sunday Times Culture)
"The elephant in the room of artificial intelligence is mass obsolescence of the human workforce it threatens to supplant. Ford stares the elephant in the face." ( Observer)
"Packed with irresistible gee-whizz facts but...also anxious about what might happen next, especially to human employment...well worth reading." ( Guardian)

What listeners say about Rise of the Robots

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Long But Too Economical

A very relevant book if your concerned about what the world might look like in 2030 or 2100. There were some good leads, with references to recent and future technology and its effects on society - which was what I was really interested in. However, it was too long with expositions of the author's ideas on quite specific economic examples relevant particularly to the US, such as personal theories on possible improvements to the American healthcare model. The book touched on aspects of what sort of jobs might replaced by automaton in the future and for instance basic trends in nanotechnology, robots and more so computing and AI, but for me it did not go into the dilemma about future employment or pragmatic day to day existential (or philosophical) issues enough.

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14 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

An influential book for our time

Very good factual base and first degree impact assessment. A very useful read to understand trends.
As collateral benefit it helped me understand why wealth concentration is an issue.
Key takeout for me: we -economic conservative-types- usually view the recipients of benefits in the wagon and the workers doing the pulling. With machines doing more and more of the pulling we will increasingly find people we know, and enen "us" in tge wagon. The AI / automation revolution is here, re thinking our social construct is imperative.
The discussion on the US health system was, in my view, too long.

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10 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Important message well presented

What did you like most about Rise of the Robots?

Well supported argument explaining the impact of technology on employment and economy now and in the future. With two sons going through university, this has help me articulate concerns I had for their futures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Rise of the Robots?

Explanation of how even highly educated graduates will struggle to find work as the power of technology increases

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wow.

Such a shame these impending and important issues aren't bring discussed by any politician currently

looking to be elected...

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7 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

the harbinger of doom

great for 2/3 of the book, enlightening, interesting, frightening, and sobering. not quite uplifting. the lengthy section on US healthcare system was strangely out of kilter with the premise of the book, and frankly boring. so I skipped it. the final sections on economic policy and policy in a future state were interesting but not particularly captivating. a good informative read otherwise.

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5 people found this helpful

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excellent

a book everyone should read! outlining a societal issue for us all to address with the ever increasing pace of technology change.

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Very good lead up, poor ending.

Martin Ford does well to create a picture of the automaton to come but ends poorly with not much discussion about the future possible solutions.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Awesome

Great insight into the future of techology and humanity. A must read for any technology and AI enthusiast.

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4 people found this helpful

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A book all parents must read!

What could the future hold for you and yours? What jobs should your children aim for? How might the economy work in the future when so many jobs can be performed by machines or computers? This is a very important book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars

pretty cool stuff, definately worth a listen

Good book, well writen and explores a lot of important topics. I feel towards the end it focuses too much on the economic and political implications of robotics and technology's.

Although definately worth a read.

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2 people found this helpful