Name: Ashlyn's review of Futureproof by Kevin Roose
Item: Futureproof
Rating: 4
Author: Ashlyn

Kevin Roose

A New York Times technology columnist's timely, counterintuitive, and highly practical guide to success in the age of A.I. and automation. The machines are here. After decades of sci-fi doomsaying and marketing hype, advanced A.I. and automation technologies have leapt out of research labs and Silicon Valley engineering departments and into the center of our lives. Robots once primarily threatened blue-collar manufacturing jobs, but today's machines are being trained to do the work of lawyers, doctors, investment bankers, and other white-collar jobs previously considered safe from automation's reach. The world's biggest corporations are racing to automate jobs, and some experts predict that A.I could put millions of people out of work. Meanwhile, runaway algorithms have already changed the news we see, the politicians we elect, and the ways we interact with each other. But all is not lost. With a little effort, we can become futureproof. In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Machine-Age Humans, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out an optimistic vision of how people can thrive in the machine age by rethinking their relationship with technology, and making themselves irreplaceably human. In nine pragmatic, accessible lessons, Roose draws on interviews with leading technologists, trips to the A.I. frontier, and centuries' worth of history to prepare readers to live, work, and thrive in the coming age of intelligent machines. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have successfully survived technological change, including a nineteenth-century rope-maker and a Japanese auto worker, and explains how people, organizations, and communities can apply their lessons to safeguard their own futures. The lessons include: - Do work that is surprising, social, and scarce (the types of work machines can't do) - Break your phone addiction with the help of a rubber band - Work in an office - Treat A.I. like the office gorilla - Resist "hustle porn" and efficiency culture and do less, slower Roose's examination of the future rejects the conventional wisdom that in order to compete with machines, we have to become more like them--hyper-efficient, data-driven, code-writing workhorses. Instead, he says, we should let machines be machines, and focus on doing the kinds of creative, inspiring, and meaningful work only humans can do.

9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation

Futureproof

Danny White

...the human receptionist in the Google demo was serving as a point of connection between two pieces of software—Duplex and the salon’s appointment calendar—and she was necessary only because those machines couldn’t talk directly to each other yet

YouTube has said that recommendations are responsible for more than 70 percent of all time spent on the site... Netflix has said that 80 percent of the movies viewed on its service come from recommendations

No matter how good AI gets, humans still want role models, and we want to be inspired by human greatness

A good general rule is that jobs that make people feel things are much safer than jobs that simply involve making or doing things

...jobs that tap into our social desires—bartenders, hair stylists, flight attendants, mental health workers—will be hard to automate. And people who are skilled at creating social and emotional experiences will be better positioned for the future than people whose primary skill is making or doing things efficiently

if you could write a user’s manual for your job, give it to someone else, and that person could learn to do your job as well as you in a month or less, you’re probably going to be replaced by a machine.

Home refrigeration made ice salesmen obsolete, but it created many more jobs for grocers, restaurateurs, and farmers

The Luddites earned their place in the history books by breaking their weaving machines, but they didn’t reverse the effects of industrialization

...the key to living a happy, rewarding life in the age of AI and automation is not competing with machines head-on—learning to code, optimizing your life, eliminating all forms of personal inefficiency and waste—but strengthening your uniquely human skills, so you’re better equipped to do the things machines can’t do.

...none of this is predetermined. Executives, not algorithms, decide whether to replace human workers. Regulators, not robots, decide what limits to place on emerging technologies like facial recognition and targeted digital advertising.

Fears of job-killing machines aren’t new. In fact, they date back to roughly 350 B.C.E., when Aristotle mused that automated weavers and self-playing harps could reduce the demand for slave labor

Ashlyn

Insightful read on AI and how we can prepare for the future, and, essentially, become future-proof. The most interesting part for me was seeing how much of the book held up years after its launch, now that AI has evolved so much.

There’s lots of good insights in the book, although some parts feel outdated now. Recommend if you’ve ever touched AI. 

eryc

Insightful read on AI and how we can prepare for the future, and, essentially, become future-proof. The most interesting part for me was seeing how much of the book held up years after its launch, now that AI has evolved so much.

There’s lots of good insights in the book, although some parts feel outdated now. Recommend if you’ve ever touched AI. 

Doesn’t pretend to know specific societal ramifications of AI/automation because, let’s be honest, no-one does. Does posit some ideas on how to prepare, with plenty of historical data to back those ideas up. Solid read.

"This is the truth about the AI revolution. There is no looming machine takeover, no army of malevolent robots plotting to rise up and enslave us. It’s just people, deciding what kind of society we want. [...] Futureproofing is about reclaiming control of our minds and our human agency, not just keeping our jobs."

Christopher Wheeler

Nick Gracilla

This is essential reading for anyone living in modern society. Roose sets out his slightly pessimistic perspective of AI automation and work — it's going to be much, much more than merely automating the 'boring parts' and having us prospering in the creative ones. 

But more importantly, he lays out critical actions to claim and assert our humanity — as much against work automation as against advertisement driven industries that hone away our choices in everyday life. From resisting Machine Drift to learning Machine-Age Humanities, like attention guarding and digital discernment, this book is like a how-to for the next 10 years.

Nicholas Zachariou

garima mamgain

'Kevin Roose provides a clear, compelling strategy for surviving the next wave of technology with our jobs - and souls - intact... Futureproof is the survival guide you need' Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit In this timely, counterintuitive, and highly practical guide to the age of A.I. and automation, a New York Times technology columnist argues that the key to success is making yourself more human, not less. The machines are here. After decades of sci-fi doomsaying and marketing hype, advanced A.I. and automation technologies have leapt out of research labs and Silicon Valley engineering departments and into the center of our lives. The world's biggest corporations are racing to automate jobs, and some experts predict that A.I could put millions of people out of work. But all is not lost. With a little effort, we can become futureproof. In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Machine-Age Humans, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out an optimistic vision of how people can thrive in the machine age by rethinking their relationship with technology, and making themselves irreplaceably human.

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Futureproof by Kevin Roose

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