Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Basic Books (2015), Edition: 1st, 352 pages
Language
Original language
English
Description
"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?"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member clifforddham
Dire prospects for robotics eliminating a considerable portion of employment opportunity, with the question rising of how to cope. Looming issue of machinery becoming smarter or more capable than humans. The writer is based in Silicon Valley and has extensive knowledge of specific current
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"progress." NPR interview on "Fresh Air," May 18, 2015. Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Robots are almost certainly coming for your job, if any part of it involves tasks that can be repeated again and again. This includes fast food work, many kinds of health care, many kinds of legal work, and arguably (though I am unconvinced) some teaching. Ford convincingly makes the case that
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automation will continue to improve and replace previous human workers, then spends a bit of time on total speculation about artificial intelligence (Skynet!), and finally asks what we ought to do about it. Ford argues that automation has already contributed substantially to longterm disemployment in the US, and that education and retraining will not solve the problem. But if very few people have jobs, who will buy all the stuff robots make? His proposal, which he recognizes is unviable in the US because we are all terrified and atomized, is for a basic income for everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member DLMorrese
Rise of the Robots focuses on the economic impact of increased productivity due to automation. When I was just a lad, sometime in the last century, I recall this being talked about and how it would lead to greater wealth, shorter working hours, higher pay, and general abundance. That hasn't
When I started my first 'real' office job (1981), we had one admin assistant for about every dozen desk jockeys. Her job (all were women) was primarily to type our hand-written correspondence so it could be snail-mailed. When we got our first desktop computers a couple of years later, we typed the letters ourselves on our computers and sent them to a shared printer. A year later, we did away with the need for printing and emailed most of them. One of the consequences was elimination of the admin support jobs followed closely by staff reductions in the mail room.
We all know about robots replacing assembly line workers to build cars and a host of other things. This technology is getting more sophisticated and is being used in more ways. The trend will certainly continue. Some people may tell you that businesses are 'job creators', but they leave out an important word. Businesses are reluctant job creators. They don't hire people they don't need, and they do their best to need as few as possible. Robots that are reliable and cost-effective will, undoubtedly, continue to reduce the need for human labor. In the past, displaced workers might hope to retrain for different, possibly better jobs, but computer technology is advancing so quickly, there may soon be few jobs robots aren't better suited for...from a purely profit-motivated business perspective.
Martin Ford suggests that what is needed is a new paradigm, one that retains the essential contribution of people as consumers, even if they do not have paying jobs bringing in income. This is necessary to keep the economy moving. Broad-based consumer spending drives the economy, but businesses can't sell what people can't afford to buy. He offers several options. I don't know which, if any, of these might work, but they are all worth considering. I am quite sure, however, that the days of the labor-based income economy are numbered.
This is an important subject for our times and Rise of the Robots does a good job addressing it. I recommend it.
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happened, at least not for most workers who have seen no substantial increases in pay or benefits even though the value of the goods they are producing has risen substantially. Where did all that wealth go? I'll bet you can guess. Automation isn't the only cause for income disparity, of course. Narrowly focused short-term profit-seeking and manipulation of governmental policies and public opinion by well-funded special interests play a large role, but this book only touches on those. The automation aspect, especially the rapid advancement in robotics is the main topic. When I started my first 'real' office job (1981), we had one admin assistant for about every dozen desk jockeys. Her job (all were women) was primarily to type our hand-written correspondence so it could be snail-mailed. When we got our first desktop computers a couple of years later, we typed the letters ourselves on our computers and sent them to a shared printer. A year later, we did away with the need for printing and emailed most of them. One of the consequences was elimination of the admin support jobs followed closely by staff reductions in the mail room.
We all know about robots replacing assembly line workers to build cars and a host of other things. This technology is getting more sophisticated and is being used in more ways. The trend will certainly continue. Some people may tell you that businesses are 'job creators', but they leave out an important word. Businesses are reluctant job creators. They don't hire people they don't need, and they do their best to need as few as possible. Robots that are reliable and cost-effective will, undoubtedly, continue to reduce the need for human labor. In the past, displaced workers might hope to retrain for different, possibly better jobs, but computer technology is advancing so quickly, there may soon be few jobs robots aren't better suited for...from a purely profit-motivated business perspective.
Martin Ford suggests that what is needed is a new paradigm, one that retains the essential contribution of people as consumers, even if they do not have paying jobs bringing in income. This is necessary to keep the economy moving. Broad-based consumer spending drives the economy, but businesses can't sell what people can't afford to buy. He offers several options. I don't know which, if any, of these might work, but they are all worth considering. I am quite sure, however, that the days of the labor-based income economy are numbered.
This is an important subject for our times and Rise of the Robots does a good job addressing it. I recommend it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes
I read 1984 a few months back and that was the most horrific I had read this year. Until now. Rise of the Robots by Martin Ford paints one of the scariest predictions for the future I've ever read. And by scariest, I mean realistically plausible.
LibraryThing member infjsarah
Well - this was a depressing read. Ford's hypothesis is that unless you are one of the mega rich, the future is very bleak indeed as soon algorithms i.e artificial intelligence will pretty much be able to do most routine jobs - and most jobs are routine. Only jobs which require physical contact and
He makes a suggestion of a basic income for all as a way to maintain a society. Can't see current politics even contemplating that unless there was a complete societal breakdown happening. And even then...
Far from a cheery read.
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manipulation e.g health will likely survive and they will probably be mostly minimum wage. Even professionals such as doctors are threatened by AI such as IBM's Watson. As he succinctly states - no business wants to hire a worker - they are expensive and unreliable and need managing. An AI doesn't get sick or have childcare problems or complain about overtime or its coworkers. He is scathing of those who say new types of jobs will be created as has happened in the past. He thinks this time is different.He makes a suggestion of a basic income for all as a way to maintain a society. Can't see current politics even contemplating that unless there was a complete societal breakdown happening. And even then...
Far from a cheery read.
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LibraryThing member arewenotben
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
Felt like Ford disregarded existing privilege a little in his arguments about the Universal Basic Income (which must be almost guaranteed
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to happen, I can't see any other workable solution) but overall a very informative and wide ranging book. Show Less
Awards
Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year (Shortlist — 2015)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Non-Fiction — 2015)
Collection
DDC/MDS
| 331.13 |
Original publication date
2014
Physical description
352 p.; 6.5 inches
ISBN
0465059996 / 9780465059997