Automate This

How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World

By: Christopher Steiner

Narrated by: Walter Dixon

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The rousing story of the last gasp of human agency and how today’s best and brightest minds are endeavoring to put an end to it.

It used to be that to diagnose an illness, interpret legal documents, analyze foreign policy, or write a newspaper article you needed a human being with specific skills - and maybe an advanced degree or two. These days, high-level tasks are increasingly being handled by algorithms that can do precise work not only with speed but also with nuance. These "bots" started with human programming and logic, but now their reach extends beyond what their creators ever expected.

In this fascinating, frightening audiobook, Christopher Steiner tells the story of how algorithms took over - and shows why the "bot revolution" is about to spill into every aspect of our lives, often silently, without our knowledge. The May 2010 "Flash Crash" exposed Wall Street’s reliance on trading bots to the tune of a 998-point market drop and $1 trillion in vanished market value. But that was just the beginning. In Automate This, we meet bots that drive cars, pen haikus, and write music mistaken for Bach’s. They listen in on our customer service calls and figure out what Iran would do in the event of a nuclear standoff. There are algorithms that can pick out the most cohesive crew of astronauts for a space mission or identify the next Jeremy Lin. Some can even ingest statistics from baseball games and spit out pitch-perfect sports journalism indistinguishable from that produced by humans.

The interaction of man and machine can make our lives easier. But what will the world look like when algorithms control our hospitals, our roads, our culture, and our national security? What happens to businesses when we automate judgment and eliminate human instinct? And what role will be left for doctors, lawyers, writers, truck drivers, and many others? Who knows - maybe there’s a bot learning to do your job right this minute.

©2012 Christopher Steiner (P)2012 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"Algorithms are affecting every field of human endeavor, from markets to medicine, poker to pop music. Listen to this audiobook if you want to understand the most powerful force shaping the world today and tomorrow." (Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist, MIT; coauthor of Race Against the Machine)

Great examples of Algorithms at work today

Where does Automate This rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I loved all of the examples of algorithms at work and the story was told very well.

current and thorough

the chapters are relevant and full of solid examples. great read in deed recommend to all

Don't speculate about the future.

The future is here. Listen to the book. A must listen for everyone. Awesome research!

Interesting and engaging

What did you love best about Automate This?

I don't finish most audible books since I lose interest or feel like I already know everything they are saying. This one kept my attention to the end. I am a computer engineer, so it is interesting for the technical audience. All the concepts are explained clearly in story format, so it would be understandable for all audiences.

What other book might you compare Automate This to and why?

The only other audio book that has kept my attention the whole way through recently is "Makers: The New Industrial Revolution"

Any additional comments?

This book tells interesting stories of examples where algorithms are being used for business and every day life.

Automate This Review

Book in general is a good history of several real world examples of algorithms changing the way the world works but leaves a bit to be desired when expanding on how this is used currently and how the future will be impacted.

Both inspiring and frightening!

This book is exciting, inspiring and at the same time frightening. Computers and the people who understand them are helping humanity and at the same time gaining a huge edge over people who don't understand and use computers and have the capital to take advantage of their capabilities.

Every late middle school or early high school student should read this book. Their life's trajectory would certainly change to include a more technical education.

For those of us who are on the other end of life's spectrum it makes one wonder whether life has any safe professions or havens for our children and grandchildren. Will half of our doctors be replaced by computers?

When one spends eight to twelve years after high school in study to become a professional is it possible to see all of that work become obsolete with the perfection of a few computer algorithms? But think --- of all of the benefit to humanity from more accessible and accurate medical treatment for everyone on the receiving end instead of the dispensing end of the medical profession. And on it goes.

In the future truck convoys of driverless trucks are likely to deliver our goods in half the time at a fraction of the current cost with no accidents --- and at the same time displace a million truck drivers.

Think of NYC with twenty thousand automated driverless taxi cabs that are incapable of taking the slowest route or blowing a horn or violating a safety law or even having a collision of any sort. Complete safety. Reduced cost. No noise. Displaced drivers.

Read or listen to this book or ----- stick your head in the sand and be intentionally ignorant of the future --- your choice. The change is in progress. Part is history but the exciting part is what is to come.

Eye opening!

This is an eye opening information and its analysis is nothing but trivial. Nevertheless the author manage to presented in a excellent style and pace. Highly recommended!

Thought Provoking

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you are interested in tech - yoou will like this book.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

Easy to follow

Any additional comments?

OK - but not WOW...

Good book on the influence of algorithms.

What did you love best about Automate This?

It was very informative on algorithms development in programming and at the same time entertaining.

What other book might you compare Automate This to and why?

"search" by John Batel and from "Gutenberg to Zuckerberg" by John Naughton.

What about Walter Dixon’s performance did you like?

it was good.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

If thinking a great deal and saying hmm... is an extreme reaction, then yes.

Any additional comments?

If you are in finance, data or programming this is an interesting book, giving a good overview over algorithms development.

Fascinating. So many ways algorithms have encroach

This was absolutely fascinating. In the prologue the author mentions how he originally planned to cover algorithms and how they affected Wall Street , which would have been interesting. But the way algorithms have affected all the other fields (medicine, self driving cars, organ transplants ) was actually MORE interesting. Great read!