Rule of the Robots

How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything

By: Martin Ford

Narrated by: Ian Carlsen

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

The New York Times best-selling author of Rise of the Robots shows what happens as AI takes over our lives.

If you have a smartphone, you have AI in your pocket. AI is impossible to avoid online. And it has already changed everything from how doctors diagnose disease to how you interact with friends or read the news. But in Rule of the Robots, Martin Ford argues that the true revolution is yet to come.

In this sequel to his prescient New York Times best seller Rise of the Robots, Ford presents us with a striking vision of the very near future. He argues that AI is a uniquely powerful technology that is altering every dimension of human life, often for the better. For example, advanced science is being done by machines, solving devilish problems in molecular biology that humans could not, and AI can help us fight climate change or the next pandemic. It also has a capacity for profound harm. Deep fakes - AI-generated audio or video of events that never happened - are poised to cause havoc throughout society. AI empowers authoritarian regimes like China with unprecedented mechanisms for social control. And AI can be deeply biased, learning bigoted attitudes from us and perpetuating them.

In short, this is not a technology to simply embrace or let others worry about. The machines are coming, and they won’t stop, and each of us needs to know what that means if we are to thrive in the 21st century. And Rule of the Robots is the essential guide to all of it: both AI and the future of our economy, our politics, our lives.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Martin Ford (P)2021 Basic Books

Critic reviews

“Probably the most compelling single-volume book so far on AI’s advance and the opportunities and challenges associated with its multi-faceted impact on the world. Those in AI and those outside it will get a lot out of his clear-eyed and critical perspective. I highly recommend it.” (James Manyika, chairman and director of the McKinsey Global Institute)

“There is no technology more important today than AI. Martin Ford continues his tradition of clear insights and observations about this important topic in a well-researched page-turner. A delightful book!” (Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and coauthor of The Second Machine Age)

“The best up-to-date, go-to book on the social and economic implications of artificial intelligence.” (Tyler Cowen, professor of economics at George Mason University)

Fantastic Fruit Salad

This book stood out as one about connection vs. prediction. The attorney does a great job for following up on many points made in Rise of the Robots, while throwing in more pertinent & time sensitive post Corona issues.

I appreciated the constant call back to modern companies, technologies and people influencing AI in our world.

This book did not break new ground. It made the road we are seeing before us a little more organized.

Cheers

very informative

loved it, it gives a sober account of our very near future ahead. we'll structured

Great listen on a solo road trip

I found it well structured and very informative without talking too technically.

Great relevant and current information on the deep learning environment and trajectory.

interesting and realistic...

it affirms that ultimately, AI is a human tool as such it will be use for good things or abuse for bad ones...man ultimately is his own enemy

Liberal slant

Instead of believing in the power of free enterprise to give the people what they want, his solution to the rule of the robots is to increase governmental control, and give away money for everybody, and institute a giant federal agency to rule everything.

Spends too much time on popular social issues of today

Better than most in the category. Starts off stronger, but then falls into too much time on unnecessary social issues popular in the world of today, such as inclusivity in AI.
Besides that, engaging and informal for a beginner audience.

Not much new here

After reading a few books on AI, I was hoping that this update from Martin Ford would have new information. Besides learning about a few new people at the front of AI and machine learning research, the book didn't provide any additional information.