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

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 Provides historical references.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 ---+- Serious Insights High +---- Low Practical High ---+- Low *Ian Mann of Gateways consults internationally on leadership and strategy and is the author of Strategy that Works.

An impressive run through history, politics, economics and technological progress that explains in simple terms how the new age of digital technologies impacts individuals and societies. The authors proceed to offer ideas and suggestions on how to embrace and steer these exponential impacts that are thought provoking and positively encouraging. I believe this book is a must read for every citizen but importantly our young people. Well done to the authors.

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.

In diesem spannenden und informativen Buch beschreiben die beiden Autoren die Gründe und Auswirkungen der rasanten Entwicklung digitaler Technologien. Der Ausdruck "Second Machine Age" bezeichnet die moderne Informationstechnologie, die unsere Gesellschaft nach Ansicht der Autoren ebenso stark verändern wird wie die industrielle Revolution. Die ersten Kapitel zeigen einige Beispiele für technische Fortschritte, die noch vor kurzem als unmöglich galten, und begründen, wie eine solche Entwicklung möglich gemacht wurde. Die Eigenschaften des digitalen Wandels (exponentiell, digital und kombinatorische Innovation) führen dazu, dass der große Teil des Potenzials, welches in digitalen Technologien steckt, noch nicht ausgeschöpft ist. Die technologischen Entwicklungen ziehen zwei bedeutende wirtschaftliche Folgen nach sich: Ein breiter Zugang zu preiswerten, digitalen Gütern (z.B. Musik, Enzyklopädie), aber auch zunehmende Ungleichheit (Englisch: bounty und spread). Anschließend gehen die beiden Autoren den möglichen Auswirkungen auf wirtschaftliche Größen wie BIP oder Arbeitslosigkeit nach. Im dritten großen Themengebiet werden Empfehlungen für Politik und Einzelpersonen abgegeben, um den Veränderungen, die durch technologischen Wandel hervorgerufen werden, standzuhalten. Hierbei finden sich einige interessante Konzepte wie z.B. verbesserte Bildung durch Online-Kurse, bedingungsloses Grundeinkommen oder negative Einkommenssteuer wieder. Den Autoren gelingt es immer wieder ihre akademischen Erfahrungen als Professoren am MIT mit praktischem Wissen zu kombinieren und damit dem Leser eine umfassende Perspektive des gesellschaftlichen, wirtschaftlichen und politischen Wandels durch Informationstechnologien zu verschaffen. Dadurch entsteht ein faszinierendes Buch, welches Ausmaß, Gründe und Auswirkungen des digitalen Wandels anschaulich beschreibt. Klare Kaufempfehlung.

Todos nos damos cuenta en nuestras vidas diarias que las cosas están cambiando a unos pasos agigantados y este libro te permite descubrir el porqué, a donde vamos y sus consecuencias. No solo describe el aspecto técnico de lo que está padando sino su consecuencias económicas y sociales.

Great book, this and Rise of the Robots and The Inevitable are all great reads. Very informative. They all remind me of Alvin Toffler's groundbreaking book Future Shock. Very insightful in terms of the future of human labour.