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

Martin Ford

May 2015 · Sold by Basic Books

About this ebook

The New York Times-bestselling guide to how automation is changing the economy, undermining work, and reshaping our lives

Winner of Best Business Book of the Year awards from the Financial Times and from Forbes

"Lucid, comprehensive, and unafraid . . . ;an indispensable contribution to a long-running argument." -- Los Angeles Times

What are the jobs of the future? How many will there be? And who will have them? As technology continues to accelerate and machines begin taking care of themselves, fewer people will be necessary. Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making "good jobs" obsolete: many paralegals, journalists, office workers, and even computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots and smart software. As progress continues, blue and white collar jobs alike will evaporate, squeezing working -- and middle-class families ever further. At the same time, households are under assault from exploding costs, especially from the two major industries-education and health care-that, so far, have not been transformed by information technology. The result could well be massive unemployment and inequality as well as the implosion of the consumer economy itself.

The past solutions to technological disruption, especially more training and education, aren't going to work. We must decide, now, whether the future will see broad-based prosperity or catastrophic levels of inequality and economic insecurity. Rise of the Robots is essential reading to understand what accelerating technology means for our economic prospects-not to mention those of our children-as well as for society as a whole.

Ratings and reviews

Rise of the Robots is a well documented book that, frankly, depressed me. Ford clinically lays out that modern computer hardware and software are at or nearly at a stage that they can eliminate almost every job! With economic pressures to lower cost, many jobs will be eliminated and many will be "downskilled" to the degree that once high end jobs can be done by the semiskilled, at much lower pay. The result is an increase in wealth and power of those that own or run major corporations: an even great split in haves and have nots.

This book may contain some dire aspect of where technology is pushing humanity future, but it's a must read... I am confident that a self adjusting society, politics and economy will slowly have to change... To adapt. I do agree as we stand today the poor will get poorer and the will get richer... But recession after recession more and more people both at the top and at the bottom will realize that we need to implement a change.

About the author

Martin Ford, the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm, has over twenty-five years of experience in computer design and software development. The author of The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology, and the Economy of the Future, he lives in Sunnyvale, California.