The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies Illustrated Edition

The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies by Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee“The Second Machine Age” is a wonderful book about the impact of technology on our lives. Accomplished authors Brynjolfsson and McAfee, takes the reader on a fascinating journey that intertwines technology, society and the economy. The main premise is we live in a second machine age and it comes with bounty and freedom but also some difficult challenges. This captivating 321-page book includes the fifteen chapters divided into three sections: Section 1 describes the fundamental characteristics of the second machine age, Section 2 explores bounty and spread, and Section 3 discusses what interventions will be appropriate and effective for this age.Positives:1. A well-researched and well-referenced book.2. A fascinating topic in the hands of gifted authors: the impact of technology on the economy and our lives.3. A very good format. The book is divided into three main sections; each chapter begins with a quote-appropriate quote and is further broken out by subtopics.4. Engaging and readable style. The authors take what could have been complex topics and make it accessible to the general public. Good use of charts and diagrams to complement narrative.5. Provides historical references. “The Industrial Revolution ushered in humanity’s first machine age—the first time our progress was driven primarily by technological innovation—and it was the most profound time of transformation our world has ever seen.”6. An excellent discussion on what would remain predominately human tasks versus tasks that would be automated by artificial intelligence. “In addition to pattern recognition, Levy and Murnane highlight complex communication as a domain that would stay on the human side in the new division of labor.”7. Fascinating nuggets of knowledge throughout the book. “The word robot entered the English language via the 1921 Czech play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s “Universal” Robots) by Karel Capek, and automatons have been an object of human fascination ever since.”8. A look at the history of digitization. “Information is costly to produce but cheap to reproduce.”9. A look at innovations. “Another school of thought, though, holds that the true work of innovation is not coming up with something big and new, but instead recombining things that already exist.”10. Explains key economic terms and how it’s impacted by technology. “The trends in GDP growth and productivity growth covered in chapter 7 are important, but they are not sufficient measures of our overall well-being, or even our economic well-being.”11. A look at key intangibles. “Production in the second machine age depends less on physical equipment and structures and more on the four categories of intangible assets: intellectual property, organizational capital, user-generated content, and human capital.”12. A look at economic inequalities. “The ratio of CEO pay to average worker pay increased from seventy in 1990 to three hundred in 2005.” “Recent research makes it clear that the American Dream of upward mobility, which was real in earlier generations, is greatly diminished today.”13. Explains to satisfaction the winner-take-all results. “Digital goods have enormous economies of scale, giving the market leader a huge cost advantage and room to beat the price of any competitor while still making a good profit.”14. Asks the right questions. “…three important questions about the future of the bounty and the spread. First, will the bounty overwhelm the spread? Second, can technology not only increase inequality but also create structural unemployment? And thirdly, what about globalization, the other great force transforming the economy—could it explain recent declines in wages and employment?”15. A look at a technological unemployment. A look at the argument from each side.16. Practical tools to help you out. “Our recommendations about how people can remain valuable knowledge workers in the new machine age are straightforward: work to improve the skills of ideation, large-frame pattern recognition, and complex communication instead of just the three Rs.”17. A section on how to improve the educational system.18. The need to support our scientists. You are preaching to the choir brother…19. An important chapter on long-term recommendations. “The will of the world is first and foremost to have a good job.”20. A fascinating look at the present and future. “Our generation will likely have the good fortune to experience two of the most amazing events in history: the creation of true machine intelligence and the connection of all humans via a common digital network, transforming the planet’s economics.”Negatives:1. This book repeats to some degree what was contained in the excellent book “Race Against the Machine”. If you have you read that, you may suffer a bit of deja vue.2. Some issues were not addressed, climate change comes to mind.3. The book is of more value to the layperson than somebody in the technical fields.4. No formal bibliography.In summary, this is an excellent book that masterfully bridges technology and its impact on the economy. The authors make keen observations of the current machine age and what the present and future holds backed by compelling research. A fun, enlightening and thought-provoking book that is a must read. I highly recommend it!Further recommendations: “Race Against the Machine” by the same authors, “Rise of the Robots” by Martin Ford, “Our Final Invention” by James Barrat, “Tomorrowland” by Steven Kotler, “Singularity Is Near” by Ray Kurzwell, “The Price of Inequality” by Joseph Stiglitz, “Why Nations Fail” by Daron Acemoglu, and “Saving Capitalism” by Robert B. Reich.

For about 8,000 years, humanity developed very gradually. The number of people on the planet was largely unchanged at less than half a billion. The tools people used to survive changed little. Life was, to quote Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan, “poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”Towards the last quarter of the 17th century, there was profound change. The population of the world grew exponentially, making the graph of demographics look suddenly right angled, as it grew from a half to seven billion. The cause of this change began with the Scottish inventor and engineer, James Watt and his refinement of the steam engine. This allowed people to achieve more than their limited muscle power was capable of, and to generate enormous quantities of energy that could be harnessed. The result was factories and mass production, railways and mass transportation, and more. This led to life, as we know it.This remarkable achievement started to change everything. How we work, who works, where we live, how we live. How much we earn and how we earn, how many people live on the planet and where they live.This book, The Second Machine Age, shows how we are changing the world in ways more profound that what has taken place from the 18th century until now. Everything you do is changing. How you do it, ischanging. The implications are exciting, the possibilities are motivating, and some implications are nothing short of worrying.The thrust behind the “second machine age” is the computer, dubbed by Time Magazine in 1982, as the machine of the year. However, it was not the computer that did it, but what has been achieved after the computer. One hundred years ago, a computer was an employee’s job title, only much later replaced by a machine.What the steam engine and its like did for muscle power, the digital advances resulting from the computer are doing for mental power. This mental power will be no less important for humanity than the physical power of the steam engine.This book covers three broad conclusions regarding the implications of this mental power.The first conclusion is that computer hardware, software, and networks are building blocks for digital technologies that will be “as important and transformational to society and the economy as the steam engine.”Levy and Murnane, in their 2004 book, “The New Division of Labor,” identified the tasks that cannot be computerized and that will remain in the domain of human work. Into this category was driving, which has no fix pattern and so was best left to humans.In 2012, the authors drove in a Chauffeur, Google’s driverless car and part ofa fleet of cars that has travelled hundreds of thousands of miles without anyone driving. In all this time it has had only two accidents, one caused by a human-driven car that drove into a Chauffeur at a red traffic light, and one when a Chauffeur was driven by a person.This is only one example of many where a computer with sophisticated software outperformed a person. Similar, previously human tasks are performed by advanced internet communications technology. Into this category fits factory work previously the province of people.There still remains much work that has not been computerised, (let me not say cannot be!) such as the work of “entrepreneurs, CEOs, scientists, nurses, restaurant busboys, or many other types of workers.”“Self-driving cars went from being the stuff of science fiction to on-the-road reality in a few short years,” explains the authors, Brynjolfsson and McAfee.The second conclusion of digital technology is that its consequences will be profoundly beneficial.IBM and their partners, who include Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Cleveland Clinic, are building “Dr. Watson,” a computer with Artificial Intelligence that will assist doctors to make better diagnoses. A doctor would need read 160 hours every week simply keep up with the latest medical information relevant to his field. Dr. Watson can be fed all this information in a much shorter time and can help thousands of doctors in multiple geographies.The third conclusion of the book is of concern. While a Roomba (self-administered vacuum cleaner,) can clean a room, it cannot sort out the magazines on the coffee table. The role for housekeepers is secure.However, when work can be performed more efficiently and cheaper by robots than by people, there will be less need for some kinds of workers. Many jobs, even very high levels ones that rely on sophisticated thinking patterns will be able to be performed by computers with sophisticated software.The resulting era will require employees with special skills and the right education capable of using technology to create value. The corollary of this is that there has never been a worse time to have skills that are capable of being replaced by a computer.This particular cause of concern will probably be mitigated in the long term. The first machine age created child labour and the air pollution associated with the steam engine. Child labour no longer exists in the UK, and London air is cleaner now than at any time since the late 1500s.This fascinating book, filled with insight, examples and challenges, is essential reading for everyone. It both exhilarates with potential and warns.This is the most important book I read this year.Readability Light ---+- SeriousInsights High +---- LowPractical High ---+- Low*Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works.

Bom

It is one of the best books i read which extensively extrapolates future in every sphere of life. a must for younger generation.

Se compro la primera vez para uso del despacho y una segunda vez para compartir con colegas del medio. Pocas veces se hace esa deferencia a libros sin un contenido interesante y valioso para Abogados especializados en Tecnología.

Cet ouvrage de vulgarisation et de culture générale est parfait pour prendre conscience des possibilités offertes par les très récentes avancées numériques. Il produit sur son lecteur un effet de révélation : la révolution numérique a changé de nature dans les années 20005-2006 sans que nous y ayons réellement pris garde.L’objectif des chapitres 1 à 6 consiste à nous faire prendre conscience des limites qui ont été dépassées et de l’accélération incroyable que nous sommes en train de vivre. Les exemples et comparaisons à quelques années d’écart sont réellement frappants : notre téléphone répond à nos questions et est même capable d’humour ! Des voitures sans chauffeur se mêlent à la circulation de la région de San Francisco. Les machines sont capables d’apprendre de nouveaux modèles seules.Les chapitres suivants s’attachent aux conséquences de cette révolution numérique sur l’économie et le monde du travail. Deux impacts majeurs apparaissent. Nos indicateurs économiques passent à côté d’une part importante de la croissance générée par le numérique. Par exemple, l’utilisation de requêtes Google, fait gagner environ 500 $ par personne et par an. Enfin, contrairement à ce que nous pouvons penser, ce ne sont pas seulement les activités automatisables qui peuvent être remplacées par une machine, les professions intellectuelles sont également concernées. Faut-il y voir une menace ? Pas forcément, car la puissance de calcul des machines a besoin de la créativité humaine : c’est plutôt la combinaison homme / machine la plus pertinente qu’il convient de rechercher.Des chapitres 10 à la fin, les auteurs adoptent une posture de recommandations et vous y trouverez des conseils concrets et applicables tant pour vous-même que pour votre organisation.A moins d’être déjà très au fait de la révolution numérique, vous ferez probablement des découvertes enrichissantes, et vous aurez envie de passer à l’action !

*A full executive summary of this book is available at newbooksinbrief dot com.The main argument: In the first machine age—otherwise known as the Industrial Revolution—we humans managed to build technologies that allowed us to overcome the limitations of muscle power like never before. The result, which has reverberated these past 200 years, has been an increase in economic productivity unprecedented in human history. And the corollary of this increase in productive power has been an increase in material standard of living and social development equally as unprecedented.In the past 30 years, with the rise of computers and other digital technologies, we have moved from overcoming our physical limitations, to overcoming our mental ones. This is the second machine age. Though we are still at the dawn of the second machine age, it already shows at least as much promise in boosting productivity (and quality of life) as the first. Indeed, by various measures—including the standard ones of GDP and corporate profits—we can see that the past 30 years has witnessed an impressive steepening in productivity.And this is just the beginning. For digital technology continues to advance at an exponential pace; more digital information is being produced (and kept) all the time (all of which has enormous economic potential); and new ways of combining existing (and new) ideas into newer and better ones are ever being found.Still, what is equally apparent is that the benefits of this steepening in productivity have gone to the few, rather than the many. Indeed, while the top 20% of earners have seen their pay increase since the early 1980s (and the closer you are to the top the more dramatically your pay has increased), the bottom 80% has actually seen their wealth decrease. And the spread is widening ever more as we go.This is no random, or merely temporary outcome. Indeed, as Brynjolfsson and McAfee demonstrate, the unequal distribution of wealth in the second machine age is a natural corollary of how digital technology works and is used. Specifically, computer technology produces an economy that favors capital over labor, skilled labor over unskilled labor, and superstars (who are able to reach and corner entire global markets) over local stars.And not only does computer technology tend to play favorites, thereby increasing inequality. It also steadily erodes human employment outright. For as computer technology advances, more and more jobs that could once be carried out only by humans, becomes possible (and cheaper) for computers to carry out. Nor is there any guarantee that new innovations and advancements will necessarily produce new jobs as fast as old ones are being lost (as was once thought inevitable). Indeed, we have already seen signs that this simply cannot be counted on.The problem with all this is not just that extreme inequality is a political problem on its own. It’s that as more and more people are driven out of the economy, the prospects for greater growth are themselves undermined.Nevertheless, just as wise policies have helped us overcome many of the problems with the industrial revolution, Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue that the same can be done with the problems of the digital revolution. Specifically, more can be done to ensure that our education systems are geared to the realities and demands of the second machine age; more can be done to ignite and encourage entrepreneurship, which is needed to replace many of the jobs that will be lost; and more can be done to mitigate the inequality caused by the new technology, such as introducing a negative income tax—which preserves a minimal standard of living for all (and keeps people in the economy as consumers), while encouraging all who can to stay in the workforce.The book is very well-researched, well-written and wisely argued. The authors have taken the facts and the data as they stand, without preconception or political coloring, and have delivered an honest and insightful analysis. Both the bounty and the spread of the second machine age are made apparent, and the proposed approach moving forward is well-measured and judicious. An important book for policy-makers, and the generally curious alike. A full executive summary of this book is available at newbooksinbrief dot com.