Thomas W. Malone

"If you're like most people, you probably believe that humans are the most intelligent animals on our planet. But there's another kind of entity that can be far smarter: groups of people. In this groundbreaking book, Thomas Malone, the founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, shows how groups of people working together in superminds--like hierarchies, markets, democracies, and communities--have been responsible for almost all human achievements in business, government, science, and beyond. And these collectively intelligent human groups are about to get much smarter. Using dozens of striking examples and case studies, Malone shows how computers can help create more intelligent superminds simply by connecting humans to one another in a variety of rich, new ways. And although it will probably happen more gradually than many people expect, artificially intelligent computers will amplify the power of these superminds by doing increasingly complex kinds of thinking. Together, these changes will have far-reaching implications for everything from the way we buy groceries and plan business strategies to how we respond to climate change, and even for democracy itself. By understanding how these collectively intelligent groups work, we can learn how to harness their genius to achieve our human goals. "--Publisher's description.

the surprising power of people and computers thinking together

Superminds

Explores the skills managers will need as technological and economic forces dramatically change organizational structure in the future, spawning new types of decentralized organizations in which the power to decide belongs to everyone.

How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life

The Future of Work

Experts describe the latest research in a rapidly growing multidisciplinary field, the study of groups of individuals acting collectively in ways that seem intelligent.

Handbook of Collective Intelligence

Is Apple conscious? Could a cyber–human system sense a potential terrorist attack? Or make diagnosing a rare and little-known disease routine? Computers are not replacing us: they are enhancing us. Different intelligences are joining together to do things we thought were impossible. Whether it’s devising innovations to tackle climate change, helping job seekers and employers find one another, or identifying the outbreak of a serious disease, groups of humans and machines are already working together to solve all sorts of problems. And they will do a lot more. The future will be like another world – a place where we’ll think differently. In many ways, we are already there.

How Hyperconnectivity is Changing the Way We Solve Problems

Kevin Crowston

George Arthur Herman

The vision of the MIT Process Handbook Project is the creation of a systematic and powerful method of organizing and sharing business knowledge. This text presents the key findings of a multidisciplinary research group at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

The MIT Process Handbook

Organizing Business Knowledge

Michael S. Scott Morton

Robert Laubacher

How to invent the future of business organization.

Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century

From the founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence comes a fascinating look at the remarkable capacity for intelligence exhibited by groups of people and computers working together. If you're like most people, you probably believe that humans are the most intelligent animals on our planet. But there's another kind of entity that can be far smarter: groups of people. In this groundbreaking book, Thomas Malone, the founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, shows how groups of people working together in superminds -- like hierarchies, markets, democracies, and communities -- have been responsible for almost all human achievements in business, government, science, and beyond. And these collectively intelligent human groups are about to get much smarter. Using dozens of striking examples and case studies, Malone shows how computers can help create more intelligent superminds simply by connecting humans to one another in a variety of rich, new ways. And although it will probably happen more gradually than many people expect, artificially intelligent computers will amplify the power of these superminds by doing increasingly complex kinds of thinking. Together, these changes will have far-reaching implications for everything from the way we buy groceries and plan business strategies to how we respond to climate change, and even for democracy itself. By understanding how these collectively intelligent groups work, we can learn how to harness their genius to achieve our human goals. Drawing on cutting-edge science and insights from a remarkable range of disciplines, Superminds articulates a bold -- and utterly fascinating -- picture of the future that will change the ways you work and live, both with other people and with computers.

Thomas W. Malone

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