MARTIN FORD

Martin Ford

Thursday, May 14, 7:30 p.m.

Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

“Education and hard work will no longer guarantee success for huge numbers of people as technology advances. The time for denial is over... Rise of the Robots presents one idea, the basic income model, with clarity and force. No one who cares about the future of human dignity can afford to skip this book.” —Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a Gadget and Who Owns the Future?

Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making “good jobs” obsolete: many paralegals, physicians, and even—ironically—computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots. As technology continues to accelerate and machines begin taking care of themselves, fewer jobs will be necessary. Unless we radically reassess the fundamentals of how our economy and politics work, this transition could create massive unemployment and inequality as well as the implosion of the economy itself.

In Rise of the Robots, Martin Ford offers both an exploration of this new technology and a call to arms to face its implications. A successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Ford himself has played an integral role in creating the automated future he describes. His warning rings clearly: robots are coming, and we must decide—now—whether the future will see prosperity or catastrophe.

Martin Ford is the founder of a Silicon Valley-based software development firm and the author of the book The Lights in the Tunnel. He has over 25 years experience in the fields of computer design and software development, and is a frequent speaker on the subject of accelerating progress in robotics and artificial intelligence - and what these advances mean for the economy, job market and society of the future. His work appears in Fortune, Forbes, The Atlantic, The Washington Post and more, and he has appeared on numerous radio and TV shows, including NPR and CNBC.