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tbpardue's review against another edition
1.0
The first 100 pages were fairly clear. From there to the end of the book was a random collection of doomsday-ish scenarios, often presented as near inevitabilities. I am surprised he did not toss in asteroid strikes and nuclear winter. Even in the semi-coherent early chapters he displays limited understanding of the economic ideas he uses. For example, in discounting the impact of off-shoring on wages in the U.S. there is no consideration of substitutability of labor and marginal pricing. All in all pretty disappointing. Fortunately I borrowed from the library versus buying it!
terrypaulpearce's review against another edition
5.0
This is probably the most eye-opening and important book I've read in a long, long time. Really clearly, engagingly and even-handedly, using a good selection of sources, it explains exactly how current and (very) near-future advances in technology are doing incredibly scary things. In particular, Ford shows how economics and rising inequality intersect with the accelerating pace of tech to create a perfect storm where, unless we change our economic policy, we are utterly screwed. He builds a pretty unassailable case for some kind of Universal Basic Income as the only feasible way out, and has convinced me that this is probably the most important issue we're facing right now as a planet. Everyone should read this book, especially anyone with a job (even if it's the kind of job you think machines can't do), or anyone who wants a job, or wants their children to have a job, or uses money, or relies in any way on the economy. The people who need to take most notice are policymakers. I hope they do.
erinalexdocx's review against another edition
4.0
Automation changing work as we currently know it, both for the working and middle classes, is laid out as a pretty frightening and inevitable possibility in this book. What I found frustrating was that only in the final chapter did the author acknowledge that automation is poised to severely negatively affect all but a tiny elite only if capitalist economic systems continue. I support the author’s plan for a guaranteed minimum income and more progressive taxation - but I didn’t like how dismissive he was of government intervention into markets and the idea of welfare states.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
2.0
Ehhh. This is not actually a book about robots; it's a book about income inequality. And I'm not persuaded by the author's argument(s) that income inequality is the Great Satan.
So robots are here, and soon there will be more of them, and they'll be way better, and they'll replace humans in large sectors of the economy. Alright. That seems true.
Therefore, he says, the rise of robots will usher in even greater inequality for a handful of reasons. Ehhhhh. Plausible, but I'm not sure it's as inevitable as the author claims. I can imagine a world wherein more benefit from economic activity goes to capital instead of labor because of robots, but I also leave plenty of room for the future's adaptations to surprise me.
THEREFORE, we should do things to address inequality. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am not convinced. I'm not really concerned with relative wealth; absolute wealth seems to be the thing that matters. How much food do *I* have to eat? How much fun is *my* life to live? If I am having a great time, does it *really* matter that Warren Buffett is 1,000,000,000 times wealthier than I am?
I don't think so. And if the scary thing about robots is that they will make everything cheaper (better, faster, less resource-intensive, etc), then it seems like people will tend to be absolutely better off.
I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
So robots are here, and soon there will be more of them, and they'll be way better, and they'll replace humans in large sectors of the economy. Alright. That seems true.
Therefore, he says, the rise of robots will usher in even greater inequality for a handful of reasons. Ehhhhh. Plausible, but I'm not sure it's as inevitable as the author claims. I can imagine a world wherein more benefit from economic activity goes to capital instead of labor because of robots, but I also leave plenty of room for the future's adaptations to surprise me.
THEREFORE, we should do things to address inequality. Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I am not convinced. I'm not really concerned with relative wealth; absolute wealth seems to be the thing that matters. How much food do *I* have to eat? How much fun is *my* life to live? If I am having a great time, does it *really* matter that Warren Buffett is 1,000,000,000 times wealthier than I am?
I don't think so. And if the scary thing about robots is that they will make everything cheaper (better, faster, less resource-intensive, etc), then it seems like people will tend to be absolutely better off.
I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
themorsecode's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, if bleak. Basically every job at some point in the not too distant future can be done better and more cheaply by a robot, and more than likely will.
Felt like Ford disregarded existing privilege a little in his arguments about the Universal Basic Income (which must be almost guaranteed to happen, I can't see any other workable solution) but overall a very informative and wide ranging book.
Felt like Ford disregarded existing privilege a little in his arguments about the Universal Basic Income (which must be almost guaranteed to happen, I can't see any other workable solution) but overall a very informative and wide ranging book.
cheenu's review against another edition
4.0
The thesis of the book is that automation of processes across the skill spectrum is eating more jobs than it is generating. (As well as some other interesting consequences - such as "deskilling" jobs thus making them easy targets for outsourcing or wage stagnation).
His book is a mix of data and antecedents to demonstrate this is the case. Personally, I found it a little bit too heavy on antecedents and light on the data side but to be fair to the author, he is not an economist and this book is targeted for popular reading. He does do a pretty good job giving the "lay of the land" though.
If you believe that automation currently is and will be the major cause of mass employment in future, then definitely read it (that's me, so I enjoyed the book). If you're a skeptic, then don't read it unless anecdotal data works for you. I also liked his chapter on "basic income", I thought it gave a pretty good overview of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of "basic income".
His book is a mix of data and antecedents to demonstrate this is the case. Personally, I found it a little bit too heavy on antecedents and light on the data side but to be fair to the author, he is not an economist and this book is targeted for popular reading. He does do a pretty good job giving the "lay of the land" though.
If you believe that automation currently is and will be the major cause of mass employment in future, then definitely read it (that's me, so I enjoyed the book). If you're a skeptic, then don't read it unless anecdotal data works for you. I also liked his chapter on "basic income", I thought it gave a pretty good overview of the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of "basic income".
szachary's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely on the alarmist side of the argument. a good augment to the second machine age. an informed reader here will need more then one perspective to really hash out the complexities of this argument.
I enjoyed this book despite my disagreements with a number of its premises.
I enjoyed this book despite my disagreements with a number of its premises.
yujtang's review against another edition
dark
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
emmanuelbg's review against another edition
4.0
The topic of AI is one that aesthetically displeases me a lot. I hate talking about, and the sight of others babbling excitedly about it induces a disgust response in me. Yet, it can't be ignored anymore. Especially in relation to the economy, and the future of employment.
This book is fear-inducing, to say the least. The author doesn't try to make it so, I suppose it's just the natural byproduct of the possibility at hand. We are talking about 10-20% unemployment at best, total catastrophe at worst.
The jobs simply aren't being created anymore. This is a problem which has affected America since the 2000's. There's stagnant wages, less labor participation rates (especially in young men), less jobs created (the idea that automation ends up creating new jobs is severely faulty). The middle class as we know it is soon to be a thing of the past.
People keep repeating the mantra of "just get more education", "just learn to use the AI", etc. It doesn't work like that, we are hitting the upper limit of how much you can over-educate a population. Likewise, any AI collaboration with humans ought to be short lived, since you are training your replacement, after all.
What happens later? The author can't provide a conclusive answer. Nobody can, really. Inequality, absolutely no jobs being created appears to be a recipe for disaster and political instability. UBI isn't a convincing answer for me, I believe it can easily be used to extort dissident figures into compliance. There just doesn't seem a way out of this... It's difficult to blame us zoomers for the lack of vitality this generation has. What ought we fight for? What's the end goal here? At this point I'm just rambling.
This book does it's job amazingly well. A great survey of the situation, the causes and the possible outlooks. I don't rate it 5 starts simply because there's 3 chapters in the middle which are mostly redundant.
This book is fear-inducing, to say the least. The author doesn't try to make it so, I suppose it's just the natural byproduct of the possibility at hand. We are talking about 10-20% unemployment at best, total catastrophe at worst.
The jobs simply aren't being created anymore. This is a problem which has affected America since the 2000's. There's stagnant wages, less labor participation rates (especially in young men), less jobs created (the idea that automation ends up creating new jobs is severely faulty). The middle class as we know it is soon to be a thing of the past.
People keep repeating the mantra of "just get more education", "just learn to use the AI", etc. It doesn't work like that, we are hitting the upper limit of how much you can over-educate a population. Likewise, any AI collaboration with humans ought to be short lived, since you are training your replacement, after all.
What happens later? The author can't provide a conclusive answer. Nobody can, really. Inequality, absolutely no jobs being created appears to be a recipe for disaster and political instability. UBI isn't a convincing answer for me, I believe it can easily be used to extort dissident figures into compliance. There just doesn't seem a way out of this... It's difficult to blame us zoomers for the lack of vitality this generation has. What ought we fight for? What's the end goal here? At this point I'm just rambling.
This book does it's job amazingly well. A great survey of the situation, the causes and the possible outlooks. I don't rate it 5 starts simply because there's 3 chapters in the middle which are mostly redundant.