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FUTUREPROOF

Kevin Roose

9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation

What can we do to stay relevant and necessary as we are replaced by computers? 9 short chapters of advice about leaning into the specific traits that make us human and that cannot be replicated by machine.
The machines are here. After decades of sci-fi fantasies and hype, artificial intelligence has leapt out of research labs and Silicon Valley engineering departments and into the center of our lives. Algorithms shape everything around us, from the news we see to the products we buy and the relationships we form. And while the debate over whether or not automation will destroy jobs rages on, a much more important question is being ignored: What does it mean to be a human in a world that is increasingly built by and for machines?

In Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation, New York Times technology columnist Kevin Roose lays out a hopeful, pragmatic vision of how people can succeed in the machine age by making themselves irreplaceably human. He shares the secrets of people and organizations that have survived technological change, and explains how we can protect our own futures, with lessons like:

1) Be surprising, social, and scarce
2) Resiste machine drift
3) Demote your devices
4) Leave handprints
5) Don#t be an endpoint

Roose 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 things only humans can do.

Kevin Roose is a technology columnist for The New York Times and a writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine. His column, "The Shift," examines the intersection of tech, business, and culture. He writes and speaks regularly on many topics, including automation and A.I., social media, disinformation and cybersecurity, and digital wellness. Previously, he was a writer at New York magazine. He is the New York Times bestselling author of two books, YOUNG MONEY and THE UNLIKELY DISCIPLE, and a regular guest on The Daily. He has been named to Forbes' "30 Under 30". He lives in the San Francisco area.
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Book

Published 2021-03-09 by Random House US (Imprint)

Book

Published 2021-03-09 by Random House US (Imprint)

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UK/ANZ: John Murray ; Chinese (simpl.): CITIC ; Dutch: Uitgeverij Business Contact ; Hungarian: Pallas Athene ; Japanese: Soshisha ; Korean: Sam & Parkers ; Portuguese/Portugal: 2020 Editora LDA ; Russian: Mann, Ivanov & Ferber ; Spanish: PRH Mexico ; Ukrainian: Nash Format

Tech companies are changing the way we live, but no one is in charge of making sure that it's improving lives. While we need to rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy with solutions powerful enough to deal with this change, Kevin's book is a great look at how people can do this on a personal level to always put humanity first.

Artificial intelligence - and robots themselves - can be terrifying, but Kevin Roose provides a clear, compelling strategy for surviving the next wave of technology with our jobs - and souls - intact. Whether you're an optimist or a pessimist about the future, Futureproof is the survival guide you need.

While I think that Skynet is still going to send the Terminator back to try to kill humanity someday, it's worth your time and attention - if that is still a thing in the addled Internet age - to read Kevin's bracing book now. Why? Because it's a primer on the future and how to deal with the incoming today, from AI to automation to robotics and more, by using the tools of creativity and just being human. Whether the digital threat comes from a cybernetic organism from 2459 arriving in a big ball of lightning or from that innocent looking mobile super computer in your hand, I do know that you need to prepare for the next tech age. And there's no better way to do it than to futureproof yourself by letting Kevin show you how.