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The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of Mass Unemployment Paperback – 2 Jun 2016

4.5 out of 5 stars 87 customer reviews

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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Oneworld Publications; 01 edition (2 Jun. 2016)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1780748485
  • ISBN-13: 978-1780748481
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.3 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review

‘Well researched and disturbingly persuasive.’

(Financial Times)

‘Everyone concerned with the future of work must read this book.’

(Lord Robert Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at the University of Warwick)

“[The Rise of the Robots is] about as scary as the title suggests. It’s not science fiction, but rather a vision (almost) of economic Armageddon.”

(Frank Bruni, New York Times)

A fascinating journey into the near future world of unemployment. Ford issues a stark warning that automation in the form of robotics is moving beyond the menial jobs to put the rest of us out of work. Read it now before it is too late.

(Noel Sharkey, Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, University of Sheffield)

“As Martin Ford documents in Rise of the Robots, the job-eating maw of technology now threatens even the nimblest and most expensively educated...the human consequences of robotization are already upon us, and skillfully chronicled here.

(New York Times Book Review)

“Compelling and well-written… In his conception, the answer is a combination of short-term policies and longer-term initiatives, one of which is a radical idea that may gain some purchase among gloomier techno-profits: a guaranteed income for all citizens. If that stirs up controversy, that's the point. The book is both lucid and bold, and certainly a starting point for robust debate about the future of all workers in an age of advancing robotics and looming artificial intelligence systems.”

(ZDNet)

In Rise of the Robots, Ford coolly and clearly considers what work is under threat from automation.

(New Scientist)

“Speaks with special credibility, insight, and verve. Business people, policy makers, and professionals of all sorts should read this book right away―before the 'bots steal their jobs.”

(Kenneth Cukier, Data Editor for the Economist)

An alarming new book.

(Esquire)

Ford offers ideas on changes in social policies, including guaranteed income, to keep our economy humming and prepare ourselves for a more automated future.

(Booklist)

“If the robots are coming for my job (too), then Martin Ford is the person I want on my side, not to fend them off but to construct a better world where we can all―humans and our machines―live more prosperously together. Rise of the Robots goes far beyond the usual fear-mongering punditry to suggest an action plan for a better future.”

(Cathy N. Davidson, Distinguished Professor and Director, The Futures Initiative, The Graduate Center, CUNY and author of Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn)

“Martin Ford’s Rise of the Robots is a very important, timely, and well-informed book.  Smart machines, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, and the ‘Internet of things’ are transforming every sector of the economy. Machines can outperform workers in a rapidly widening arc of activities. Will smart machines lead to a world of plenty, leisure, health care, and education for all; or to a world of inequality, mass unemployment, and a war between the haves and have-nots, and between the machines and the workers left behind? Ford doesn’t claim to have all of the answers, but he asks the right questions and offers a highly informed and panoramic view of the debate. This is an excellent book that offers us a sophisticated glimpse into our possible futures.”

(Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University and author of The Age of Sustainable Development)

A careful and courageous examination of automation and its possible impact on society.

(Kirkus Reviews)

Of all the moderns who have written on automation and rising joblessness, Martin Ford is the original. The Rise of the Robots is self-recommending.

(Marginal Revolution)

“It's not easy to accept, but it's true. Education and hard work will no longer guarantee success for huge numbers of people as technology advances. The time for denial is over. Now it's time to consider solutions and there are very few proposals on the table. Rise of the Robots presents one idea, the basic income model, with clarity and force. No one who cares about the future of human dignity can afford to skip this book.”

(Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget and Who Owns the Future?)

Book Description

"Lucid, comprehensive, and unafraid...an indispensable contribution to a long-running argument." -Los Angeles Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
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Top Customer Reviews

Format: Kindle Edition
This is worth five stars just for its approach. That it's clear, well-researched and persuasive is a bonus. That something major is wrong with the world economy is clear. Each country has its own variation, but the symptoms include rapidly growing inequality, demand sustained by private debt mountains, weak and jobless recoveries from the Great Depression of 2008, and the collapse of the middle class. A rising tide of economists is rebelling against the institutional orthodoxy that equilibrium will be restored by the markets and all will be well again. OECD and event the IMF are now accepting that there is some fundamental structural problem. This book, however, makes a fundamental and causal link with information technology - something which is seldom even mentioned in current economics and politics.

The author is an information technology entrepreneur, and like may of us who have been involved in that industry for several decades, can see human labour is being almost everywhere challenged by machine intelligence. It didn't seem to matter much to the middle classes when automation reached manual work, but now professions that were considered impossible to automate - like the legal profession, sales, professional services, product design, education and health - are now being eroded, we're seeing something unprecedented. In Europe and the US, increasing numbers of graduates are unemployed or underemployed. Education and training are no longer sufficient conditions for middle-class life. In fact, the middle class is disappearing under a welter of household and student debt while real incomes are declining - for those lucky enough to be in work.

The author shows clearly how the 'jobless recovery' is working.
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Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book will open your eyes to the gloomy present and the bear term future. It is a bit unfortunate that we don't discuss the topic more often. Martin brings a fresh view, tackling the issue from different directions.
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Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Amazing and thought provoking look into one potential future. It got me researching all the latest developments in robotics and AI, and I was blown away. The pace of technological advancement will only increase at an exponential rate. Reading this book prepares you mentally for what is to come in YOUR lifetime, so and least you're not taken off guard.
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excellent book, recommended
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This was a well researched and fascinating insight into the our future prospects as technology marches ever forward. It was good to see that potential solutions are also considered. Well worth reading.
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Great read which has scared the hell out of me
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Great book for ringing me up to speed with the major issues we are now facing with modern technology.
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