Digital vs Human: how we'll live, love, and think in the future

by Richard Watson

From the author of the international bestseller Future Files comes the one book you need to read to prepare for the world of tomorrow.

On most measures that matter, we’ve never had it so good. Physically, life for humankind has improved immeasurably over the last fifty years. Yet there is a crisis of progress slowly spreading across the world. Perhaps this is due to a failure of vision; in the 1960s we dreamed of flying cars and moon hotels; today what we’ve ended up with are status updates and cat videos.

To a large degree, the history of the next fifty years will be about the relationship between people and technologies created by a tiny handful of designers and developers. These inventions will undoubtedly change our lives, but the question is, to what end?

What do we want these technologies to achieve on our behalf? What are they capable of, and — as they transform the media, the economy, healthcare, education, work, and the home — what kind of lives do we want to lead?

Richard Watson hereby extends an exuberant invitation for us to think deeply about the world of today and envision what kind of world we wish to create in the future. In a fascinating and accessible way, Digital vs Human examines the possible effects of technology on every area of our lives.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Technology, Sociology, Psychology, Business

288 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Richard Watson (born 1961) is an English author, lecturer and futurist known for his 2007 book Future Files: a Brief History of The Next 50 Years and for his infographics, especially his Trends & Technology Timeline 2010-2050 and the Timeline of Emerging Science and Technology 2015-2030.

He has written 5 books about the future and is the founder of What’s Next, a website that documents global trends. He has been a blogger on innovation for Fast Company Magazine and has written about creativity, innovation, and future thinking for a variety of publications including Future Orientation (Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies) and What Matters (McKinsey & Company). He is a proponent of scenario planning and an advocate of preferred futures, believing it is incumbent upon organisations to create compelling visions of the future and work towards their realisation.

In addition to writing, Watson works with the Technology Foresight Practice at Imperial College London and Lectures at London Business School and the King's Fund. He is also a network member of Stratforma and has worked with the Strategic Trends Unit at the UK Ministry of Defence, the RAND Corporation, CSIRO, the Cabinet Office and the Departments of Education in the UK and Australia.

Reviews

[Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Title: Digital Vs Human
Author: Richard Watson
Genre: Non-Fiction/Informative

Book Title:
The book title ' Digital Vs Human' clearly explains that the book is about how computers, technology and artificial intelligence have overtaken against the human minds and the repercussions in the coming ages.

Book Cover:
The book cover is an image of a human hand and the hand of a robot or humanoid that clearly illustrates the contents of the book.

About the book:
The book, 'Digital Vs Human', talks about varied topics starting from emotions, health, family relationships, culture, economy, media, societal norms, and community standards and their importance and the effect of technology on these areas. The author has managed well to describe some scenarios of such effects where a reader would sit aback with astonishment.

The author also explains in the book about how the Online Social Media is taking the role of fellow being, a good friend and a best pal and yes sometimes also donning the role of a life partner. While reading this chapter, I remembered the Oscar Nominated\Winning movie ' Her ', where the Operating System in the Protagonist's computer device becomes his emotional and sexual partner. That goose bumps felt while watching the movie were reiterated while reading some chapters. The imaginary life a human is presented due to too much of online social media are discussed with intrinsic details that will really scare every reader.

The author must be really applauded for the simple yet thought provoking and straight to point approach in the book, while dealing the issues and problems that are anticipated for the future generations in a very simple and clear manner.
What I like:
1.The truth that the human race is now facing
2. The consequences and dangerous results of too much of advent of technology in human lives

What I didn't like:
These kind of books are eye openers and thus there is no point of disliking related to the contents. As the book is from an Best Selling Author, internationally, an avid reader like me would definitely try to find out any errors, but I have found none!

Language & Grammar:
Perfect writing skills and great language is observed.

My Verdict: An intelligent book for greater understanding of technology and artificial intelligence related effects on mankind.

Book Title: 3/5
Book Cover: 3/5
About the book: 3/5
Language & Grammar: 3/5

Final Rating : 3/5

[Aliaksei Ivanou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга представляет собой погружение в мир современных технологий и их влияние на наш повседневный образ жизни. Основной тезис касается противостояния между технологическим прогрессом и человеческими ценностями. Автор анализирует, как современные технологии влияют на наши отношения, способы мышления и даже наши чувства. Важным аспектом книги является предсказание того, как эти воздействия могут развиваться в течение ближайших 50 лет. Один из, наверное, главных моментов книги - это ее актуальность даже сейчас. Автор приводит множество примеров из современной жизни, что делает материал близким и понятным. В том числе рассматриваются такие темы, как искусственный интеллект, виртуальная реальность, биотехнологии и их воздействие на наше общество. В общем, вполне неплохая книга для погружения в размышления о будущем. P.S. Хотя конечно же подобные книги очень быстро устаревают, т.к. развитие технологий идет сейчас очень быстро. Но необходимо задумываться о последствиях слишком большого присутствия технологий в жизни людей.

[Nithya K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Till I got my hands on this book, I had no idea who Richard Watson was. After reading this fabulous book, I have researched to my heart’s delight and am better informed. It is a different thing to be swayed by the technological advances and entirely another to become a techno-human.

The one thing that jumped out while I was reading this book was this: the way technology is meshing with our human lives is scary and to some it is highly exciting. To the point that these people are enabling this a bit more.

The book is divided into 11 chapters. Each chapter deals with different aspects of our modern lives. Take this for example. Society and Culture: how we came to love our machines more than each other. To the point, crackling.

It is like a whip that has come down on our blinkers and urges us to reexamine our techno-driven lives. Richard urges us to take a deeper look and to understand the impact of this overdrive, asks us to just try snatching a mobile phone from a teenager for a day.

Even as adults, who have been witnesses to this metamorphosis to technology-driven lives, we know switching off our gadgets or ignoring technology is not even the remotest idea crossing our minds. It is ingrained in our psyches to keep interacting with our machines.

Usually, the books on the Future or books on Sci-fi tend to drag and almost sound like a documentary. But, this book has a lot more to offer the discerning reader. For example, when I was reading the chapter, Home and Family: remember when we lived and loved in analog? I had to take a minute to gather my thoughts to even begin to recollect how my life was before the digitization of everything around me. It was exciting and scary at the same time. The more I read, the more I realized the way we have all become enmeshed with our gadgets that in order to unravel our true human selves, we might have to take up an extraordinary amount of willpower.

The author, very succinctly states that human nature has been fixed for thousands of years now, more so because our external environment is fairly fixed. After stating the obvious advantages of using technologies like Augmented Reality to manipulate or ‘augment’ the real world events, he goes on to make a valid point about how it is a veritable possibility that once wearables become as ubiquitous as smartphones, would people not discard their real lives altogether and move into their parallel lives?

The point where science fiction ends and fact begins may have begun to blur is what the author claims. By making machines that can download human consciousness and in the process create a kind of immortality is considered a kind of scientific progress but at the same time, is it even the kind of digital age we can usher in with relish?

The author very correctly points out that we must worry about things such as individual freedom, mental privacy, and self-determination while living a highly public digital life. Is there anything considered private when every move, every moment can be spied upon and data collected for creating digital personas.

Imagine this: a company uses remote brain scanning technology to scan your thoughts and perceptions and predicts your actions. If you think, this is stuff of a sci-fi novel, think again. Facebook with all the data it gathers surreptitiously depicts just the tip of this iceberg.

This book underlines the importance of balancing out the old and new technologies in order to retain a bit of humanness, that is our personal thoughts, ability to perceive and make decisions using our brains and not letting a machine take a decision for us.

Richard Watson’s book is a timely piece, is incisive, and allows a tantalizing view of what the machine-dominated future may hold for us humans.

The author asks several uncomfortable questions. Are these technologies created for the benefit of humans or are we humans existing for the advantage of these companies and establishments that use us like lab rats.

Take a moment and think about this deluge.

Cover Design:

Let me quickly talk about the lovely cover design.

An iStock image has been converted into a stunning image by the designer. The black background offers the perfect canvas for the golden color design. It is certainly very attractive and will make any reader pause and take a look.

Language:

It is easy to read. If one is used to reading sci-fi you might find it a bit dragging. This is very relatable and does not use verbose words. Very relatable examples ensure the point gets across to the reader.

Rating: 4/5

Ease of reading: 4/5

Audience: Adults

[Zeng Hao · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is it fantasy or reality? Watson dives straight into the futures of a digitally-driven world, questioning how different aspects of our society and lives will change as technology slowly takes over modern society. In this book, Watson discusses topics ranging from culture to economy, healthcare to education, providing a broad overview of how technology can change us and discusses the consequences of this change.

The premise of the book seems interesting enough. As a biology major who has a deep interest in tech, Digital vs Human couldn’t be a more fitting title to draw me in. A quick browse over the book’s content page shows each chapter dedicated to one aspect of society (e.g. family, employment, etc.). Watson goes wide in his coverage, and the topics he picked are both relevant and interesting.

The book began alright; Watson makes convincing arguments for his scepticism towards the rapid rise of technology, and he is cautious in his attempt to describe possible futures that new technologies might bring forth. The cautiousness is short-lived, however, as his arguments became weaker and his points turned more speculative. Some of his evidence were correlative at best, and some parts were just plain unconvincing. I get it, he is trying to make the point that the line between fiction and reality is blurring, but I think it doesn’t come across persuasive enough. In theory, these things could happen, but then again, many things can happen and don’t—at least it makes for good science fiction material (or dystopian novels).

I don’t think Digital vs Human is fantastic. It also feels a little dated reading this is 2019—not surprising considering how fast the tech industry moves. The evidence books like this presents, at least for speculative purposes, rarely have longevity. Having said that, Watson’s message isn’t about how machines will take over the world, it is about helping readers make informed choices when it comes to technology, and that the world can still be humanising if we choose for it to be. Long gone are the days when we only have to think about what we write on WordPress, now every post we make on Instagram is being used for processes most of us don’t even understand.

I give this book two stars. I don’t love it but I don’t hate it either. Watson brings awareness to some issues that aren’t intuitive unless you spend some time thinking about them. It makes us think a little more, and that for me is sufficient enough to read it.

[Scribe Publications]

Richard Watson doesn’t write like your average futurist. He’s interested in people, not machines, and so his analysis of the way our world is changing has a very human and accessible quality. Most futurists seek to sell you a vision of the future, but Richard’s there to help show you the way.
Antony Funnell, Presenter of Future Tense

With Digital vs Human Richard Watson has put himself at the vanguard of a new movement of progressive thinkers. This is a fascinating book — at once enthusiastic about the opportunities of the future and sceptical of the blind faith which fails to ask an all important question: where, exactly, are the lights of progress leading us?
Luke O’Sullivan, Editor of Quadrapheme

A remarkable and important book, which examines our possible futures with great humanity and a clear eye. This is a book that everyone should read.
Lavie Tidhar, Author of A Man Lies Dreaming

Truly persuasive.
Professor Susan Greenfield, Author of Mind Change

Incisive … the ideas he assembles are tantalising.
Jules Goddard, Fellow, London Business School

A well-argued salvo in a social dialogue that needs to be constant, because the future is already here.
Drew Turney, Cosmos

A highly readable, witty and wise book, richly informative, sharply critical but balanced, an excellent investigation of the achievements and predictions of digital technology.
Theodore Zeldin, Author of The Hidden Pleasures of Life

[Geoff Cumberbeach · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to get to grips with the approaching future of more and more technology. It's chapters cover a wide range of topics from 'Society and Culture', Media, Technology, Healthcare, Education and Work. It gives a good picture of the expected impact of AI (Artificial Intelligence) on work and society.
It is an easy read, full of references, to back up his statements.

Some Excerpts:
Theodore Zelden suggested that loneliness could be the single biggest problem in the 21st century. - p11

Sherry Turkle: the world is more talkative now than any time in its history. ... At the expense of meaningful conversation. … Andrew Keen: social media 'is an architecture of human isolation'. - p40

It's funny that our addiction to machines today, especially mobile devices, is undermining our interpersonal skills and eroding our abstract reasoning and creativity when these skills are exactly what we'll need to compete against the machine tomorrow. - p77

Between 1988 and 2003, the effectiveness of Computers increased a staggering 43-million-fold. - p84

Jonathan Franzen: 'The early dream of digital democracy has also soured, because it turns out that a complete democracy of expression attracts voices that are 'stupid, angry and have a lot of time on their hands'. - p90

We should therefore worry less about making our machines think and worry more about ensuring that we humans still do. - p246

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does what it says it does - "examines the possible effects of technology on every area of our lives" - in a very readable and accessible, but not dumbed down, style. I found it fascinating and thought provoking.

The structure, with chapters on different topics such as healthcare, education, transport and work, is good. Each chapter is focused but broad ranging, which shows the interrelationships between the topics, although the "art and war" chapter was odd juxtaposition. Interesting point that older societies are less aggressive and less prone to go to war.

My only quibble is the referencing style. The text has casual references to lots of other material, which may or may not be referenced. The reader has to check the chapter notes at the end of the book, but it is not clear which of the chapter mentions are actually referenced at the rear.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book to read slowly, and then to start reading again. It is a bringing together of many ideas about how people live, and challenging us about how we think about technology. It is speculative based on evidence, and is an enjoyable, and thought provoking read.

[Andrew H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read looking at how technology has and will continue to impact all facets of our lives. One can be scared of these changes or embrace the change by looking at how we can do things differently.

[Oleksandr Morozov · Rating 1 out of 5]

Це не ті книжки, які ви шукаєте

Я зробив помилку купивши цю книгу — наступний раз буду цікавитися біографією автора. Краще брати нон-фікшн від фахових людей: про науку від науковців, про письменництво від письменників з публікаціями й тому подібне. Звичайно, що є виключення, але це рідкість. До того ж з цієї теми я вже багато дізнався з робіт Мічіо Кайку, якого раджу. Нічого принципово нового тут не побачив.

Припускаю, вона буде цікавою тим, хто взагалі не заходив в інтернет останні років “ніколи”. На ділі, це просто набір роздумів, що виникали в автора поки не набиралась якась критична кількість. Основна їх проблема, що це стереотипні, штамповані, неперевірені ідеї чи тренди сьогодення: ми перестанемо одне з одним розмовляти, комп’ютерні ігри роблять нас агресивними, всі будуть жити в містах та інше. Десь там проскакують фрази типу “згідно з дослідженням” (посилань не чекайте) або “все ще можна змінити, якщо переосмислити”. Вибачте, але так я за кухлем пива в барі буду розмірковувати.

Книжка провокує на роздуми: риторичні запитання для того й існують. Ох, як же їх тут багато. Зрештою, не зміг дочитати. Розчарувався настільки, що навіть викинути її хочеться.

Слухайте, автор займається правильними справами, бо дійсно треба обговорювати й висвітлювати різноманітні варіанти майбутнього та те, як не наробити помилок й почати готуватися до змін. Проте такий формат книги — це марна трата часу. А зараз їх штампують безбожно, але в основному про саморозвиток або психологію. Ще й за шалені гроші.

[Lynette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed it and noted down a few apps and web pages I will review later.

[Christopher Nicholls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and humourous view of our future relationship with technology.

[Keen Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never knew of this guy until I heard him getting interviewed on the radio recently, he spoke in such a clear and eloquent fashion that I tracked down this book ASAP. Along with the likes of Cory Doctorow, Jaron Lanier and Andrew Keen, Richard Watson is one of the many contemporary writers tackling the impact of automation and the hidden perils of a hyper-connected world that has an over reliance on algorithms.

He writes with an informed and informal balance that makes for really enjoyable reading, making point after wonderful point, referencing various philosophers (ancient and contemporary) as well as drawing on the work of his peers and pulling out one liners like, “creates an arms race of insipid exhibitionism that doesn’t correspond with reality.” when talking of social networking. Or compelling quotes like,

“The internet itself is in an incredibly elitist concentrator of wealth in the hands of the few while giving the appearance of voice and the appearance of democracy to people who in fact are being exploited by the technologies.” which comes from Jonathan Franzen.

One of the many interesting points he makes is when talking about the Waldorf School of the Peninsula in Los Altos, where many of the Silicon Valley big guns send their kids. Even though these people make their living from business reliant on the internet, the people who run this school apparently believe that computers and learning don’t mix well, diminishing attention, inhibiting creativity and weakening human relationships. Instead, children mess around with pens and paper. The school embraces blackboards, chalk and encyclopaedias.

This is a highly enjoyable read on a highly topical subject. Watson is an affable and amusing guide who makes you think long, deep and hard about the consequences of insidious online/connection overload and what could happen if we continue to invest unquestioning trust in algorithms over everything else. This is the most accessible and most enjoyable book I have read on this subject so far.