Augmented: Life in The Smart Lane

by Brett King, Andy Lark, Alex Lightman

The Internet and smartphone are just the latest in a 250-year- long cycle of disruption that has continuously changed the way we live, the way we work and the way we interact. The coming Augmented Age, however, promises a level of disruption, behavioural shifts and changes that are unparalleled. While consumers today are camping outside of an Apple store waiting to be one of the first to score a new Apple Watch or iPhone, the next generation of wearables will be able to predict if we’re likely to have a heart attack and recommend a course of action. We watch news of Google’s self-driving cars, but don’t likely realise this means progressive cities will have to ban human drivers in the next decade because us humans are too risky. Following on from the Industrial or machine age, the space age and the digital age, the Augmented Age will be based on four key disruptive themes—Artificial Intelligence, Experience Design, Smart Infrastructure, and HealthTech. Historically the previous ‘ages’ bought significant disruption and changes, but on a net basis jobs were created, wealth was enhanced, and the health and security of society improved. What will the Augmented Age bring? Will robots take our jobs, and AI’s subsume us as inferior intelligences, or will this usher in a new age of abundance?

Augmented is a book on future history, but more than that, it is a story about how you will live your life in a world that will change more in the next 20 years than it has in the last 250 years. Are you ready to adapt? Because if history proves anything, you don't have much of a choice.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Health, Audiobook, Technical

435 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2016

About the author

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

Reviews

[Chi Vũ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 2015, and due to the fast development of technology, a lot of information therein is outdated at the time of my reading (2022). Some predictions came true (cashless payment, restructuring of the banking industry, hyper-targeting advertising…), but many didn’t, at least not within the time frame that the author mentioned (i.e: autonomous cars popularity).

Still, there are interesting facts mentioned that are worth considering, especially in the topic related to prosthesis and the question that the author brings forth: for example, whether it will be legal and just for people to switch their existing biological parts for prosthetic implants merely because they want to and not due to a handicapped condition.

in short, what I value in this book are the facts and questions raised by the author, rather than his predictions.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

A limited introduction to AI research, the book quickly devolves into digital utopian evangelism. "Augmented" means an integration into everyday life and bodies which the author believes is the inevitable outcome of technology. Nearly every prediction comes with a time frame of "10 to 15 years." Given that the book was written in 2015, we can see how wrong the author is. 10 million autonomous cars by 2020? Nope. The "gig" economy replacing regular work? So far, no. Perhaps the biggest weakness of the book is the slight treatment of privacy and security concerns. On privacy, the author concludes that no one will want to opt out and miss all the cool advertising and opportunities available for people who choose 24/7 surveillance by software. On security, not one word.

[Simon Parent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Synopsis:
Future is here, self driving cars, people that enhance themselves in many ways, solar and storage, privacy is dead (but it’s good, lol), blockchain, gig work and Uber, life expectancy, direct carbon capture, etc.

Impressions:
Meh. All stuff I knew. But his spin is way too much positive, and it contrast a lot with the previous books I listened by Naomi Klein. He seems to think it’s all a good thing, that big corporations can be created with just a logo and an “experience”. Basically, he seems to think we will not have any sort of economic collapse, or that the current system is fine (along with all the regurgitated stuff I read everyday on r/futurology). I really see this book as far too naive. He regularly look a bit down on people who are uncomfortable with sharing their private data, saying how that would stop us from using a lot of services, but it’s no longer about this. It’s about how this data can be used very maliciously by other people, such as the Chinese government that completely control everyone using their own data, or entities that can “hack” an election by disturbing opinions on social media. He constantly ignore the bad, and only focuses on the good (or at least really gloss over the bad). The contrast with the other books I just listened to made me see how naive I sounded when I was just touting amazeballz stuff from r/futurology. Yes, there is many incredible tech here, and coming, and it transforms our societies. But when I read this morning about the dictator of Zimbabwe who shuts down the internet in his country, or China doing horrible stuff, or the ever expanding war on fair use by none other than the FTC, it seems advances will be limited to people who can afford them, and that class is shrinking instead of expanding. When the whole system is geared toward gigging, making services cheap and empty, grinding away every cent wherever possible, no formal education and only apprenticeships, it is all hot air. Stuff still need to be owned by someone. Shared ride service still rely on someone that bought a car. The 3D printer still need to be stocked and bought by someone. Yet, this bottom scraping life locks people in place. It could be great to bottom-grate the economy, especially if it relies on a UBI, but I see that the opportunities for savings, early growth, and stability are heavily diminished. It will create a class of people who inherit money and can keep it more easily, and those that live gig to gig, always on the hunt for a few dollars to survive. And all that is without talking about the cost of the devices that will be required to fuel this future.

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled between giving this a 3 or 4 star. It started out with a good overview of the subject material. Provided good historical detail on AI and machine learning. Also, looking at different domains (such as finance, health, and transportation) and how AI is and will continue to revolutionize these areas. Although there was nothing that wasn't found in other books, I think King did a good job packaging this information and had some interesting observations. I just didn't like the ending, especially the scenarios of how people will live in this augmented age.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting look at how technology had and will continue to change the world. The author many times talks about future predictions as of they have already happened. I can see many things mentioned happing in the future, but I would still avoid using the phrase "in the future you will..." over and over

This is like reading all of major tech articles over the last 5 years, then summarizing them and putting them into a definite future. It is great of you aren't familiar with where we are currently with technology, but if you keep up with the news, there isn't much for your except for having everything in one convenient book.

It was an enjoyable book, but something seemed a little off the whole time, although I can't put my finger on it

[Jerome · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of new and forthcoming changes in technology and their expected social impact.

The book is an excellent starting point for those wishing to learn about forthcoming technological changes and their social impact. There are no technical details but is general overview of the technologies. If you want technical details you will need to find specific books on the particular technology you're interested in.

[elsalmon L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Within the next two decades every aspect of our life will be augmented by technology and immersion won't be optional.

[Ailith Twinning · Rating 2 out of 5]

future tech talks are interesting, but what is throughly disturbing is that none of these authors, beyond a vague awareness that some desperately poor people might live in Africa, evidence any awareness of life outside SF, LA, or maybe Seattle. they see the world thru the lenses of rich, American, tech workers. they neither know nor care about the basic day to day needs of anyone else. that doesn't just screw those worst off in the world, it screws everyone but the richest 0.1% of the world.

that, and the and the absolutely terrifying bias in favor of corporate (totalitarian) control of every aspect of life.

The tech is cool, but if we enter that world with these people in charge, almost all of us are fucked. but hey, your watch will be able to book a first class flight to Singapore for a tech show for you.

[Darrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. King reviews and expands on several ideas that will potentially change the way we lead our lives. Some of the things that are discussed are concepts like automation, personal assistants, smart cars and smart buildings.

All of the areas are potentially life-changing and even though some may come fully to fruition it provides a mind-expanding view of what might happen.

This book is very interesting in the way that material is presented and then expanded on. There is a lot to think about and opens the mental door to other technology considerations. Highly recommended for those that are interested in the impact of technology.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Prophets are smart people. Their predictions never work unless you employ cherry picking and use the power of hindsight to explain the differences. Yet prophets are in high demand. Brett is a smart guy. He won't be alive 40 years from now when probably the text would look more idiotic than a cheap television science fiction show of the 1960s. And who cares? Money in the bag!

[Pablo María Fernández · Rating 4 out of 5]

En el prólogo habla de un futuro que más allá de su entusiasmo pareciera distópico: ¿un dispositivo inteligente que mida mi salud y mi prepaga u obra social me obligue a llevar? Hay algunos clichés inevitables a esta altura como la impresión 3D para reemplazar a Amazon Prime o naif como la desaparición del teclado y del mouse -desde que soy chico se decía que en el 2000 no existir más (cualquier persona que haya experimentado la resistencia al cambio de los usuarios y de quienes toman decisiones de IT sabe que hay sistemas que tienen larga vida garantizada).

A tres años de su publicación, el movimiento de pantallas hacia los sensores, los smart speakers, Uber como revolución positiva para todos o IBM Watson dando diagnósticos médicos parecieran haber sido optimistas en exceso y quedaron algo incómodos como ejemplos.

Pero hay muchos aspectos de este libro que me parecieron de valor: la investigación de Pew Internet sobre por qué aún hay una parte de la población que no usa Internet, la Ley de Kryder de almacenamiento, el Uncanny valley de Masahiro Mori sobre cómo vamos a responder a robots con capacidades humanas, el concepto de Firechat que utiliza un tipo de tecnología de redes mesh para usar WiFi o Bluetooth cuando no hay internet o redes celulares, o el efecto Flynn donde cada vez da mejor la medición de IQ por mejor nutrición, educación y familiaridad con el examen.

Hace también un interesante recorrido por los robots y -más allá del obligatorio paso por el Kiva y los centros de almacenamiento de Amazon- profundiza en aplicaciones no tan discutidas como la enfermería y cuidado de personas mayores, clave en este mundo donde vivimos cada vez más. Y en su faceta intangible, otro capítulo explora la evolución del concepto del avatar desde el Erewhon de 1897 de Samuel Butler hasta la película de James Cameron pasando por Hatsune Miku, la estrella pop virtual de la que están enamorados los adolescentes japoneses.

Como todo gurú que se precie, King acuña términos nuevos para encapsular conceptos ya conocidos de una forma más marketinera. El título del libro se refiere a inteligencia aumentada con la tecnología. Prudentemente se corre (aunque no siempre) de las utopías de Kurzweil o de Diamandis donde su visión de una era de la abundancia pareciera muy sesgada por ser hombres estadounidenses blancos de clase alta. Comparte el estudio de Oxford Martin School’s Programme on the Impacts of Future Tecnology que -como el de Forrester Research- explota el impacto de la automatización en los trabajos y cómo hay que repensar hasta los monopolios naturales -como el de la electricidad- si una minoría creciente empieza a elegir cada vez más alternativas como la energía solar.

Captura bien los fenómenos que se ven hoy de “Gigging, job-hopping, cloud-based employment, permalancers-freelancers permanentes-)” donde el trabajador sentado en una fábrica u oficina en relación de dependencia trabajando de 9 a 5 se hace cada vez más insostenible desde ambos lados (la pandemia hizo que se acelerara muchísimo esta evolución). En países en vías de desarrollo es interesante reflexionar sobre cuánto viene a traer de libertad y cuánto de precarización.

Recorre el yo cuantificado (en el ejercicio, el sueño y la ingesta) del que fui seguidor hasta que me di cuenta que no estaba bueno darle tantos datos a las aplicaciones ni tampoco regir tanto mi vida por números muchas veces arbitrarios. En esa línea repasa la medicina aumentada, diagnósticos lab-on-a-chip, ingeniería y terapia genética, 3D bioprinting e interfaces cerebro-máquina. Como cuando escuché a Santiago Bilinkis hablar de estos tema, la sensación es que por lo menos durante bastante tiempo va a ser algo prohibitivo y reservado a una élite socio-económica y que hay avances mucho más básicos cuyo impacto sería mayor (comida y agua potable para todos el mundo, por empezar).

Más sobre esta reseña y otras en:
https://pablomariafernandez.substack....

[YHC · Rating 5 out of 5]

增强时代的就业和商业——赢家和输家
大型的由人工主导和基于工艺过程的行业将被人工智能、体验设计和智 能的基础设施等摧毁。
输家会是：
1.大型能源企业。四大关键因素将挑战各大化石燃料生产商或大型能源 系统：
▪超便宜的可再生能源
▪智能电网
▪电动汽车
▪能源存储系统（比如特斯拉电池、燃料电池等）
随着整个城市和区域成为净能源生产商，以及采矿业从提取燃料转变为 开发资源从而为新的智能世界提供能源供应，大量燃气服务站将歇业，电线 杆将变得年久失修。
2.大型医疗卫生和医药企业。新的医疗卫生企业的竞争力将是数据、工 程和模型，而非化学制品、专利药品和手术时间。我们仍将需要医院和医生的 外科手术，但如果你是一名医学从业者，你将通过传感器进行诊断。医院的急 诊量将在2020年达到巅峰，因为心脏病变得可预测，且治疗将由具有自学能 力、医疗专用的人工智能设备完成——它们在诊断和提供诊疗建议方面将胜 过人类。
3.中小型学院和大学。学生债务、失业以及研究生教学有效性的下降（特
别是在商学院中）将造成高等教育的大规模重组。像澳大利亚、美国和英国 等地的留学市场（这些市场已经从政府支持的系统中分离）将遭受最严重的 冲击，因为“增强的一代”将前往开放且学费较低的国家留学，选择慕课或做 学徒。
4.大政府。政府有可能是最后一个被技术和互联网颠覆的行业。人工智 能将展示出大大缩短法律流程和资源分配过程的能力，这种分配目前是由 人、硬编码程序和广为人知的政府低效率所主导。由于人工智能所管控的政 府较由人所主导的行政体系运转起来成本更低且更高效，政府将更倾向于关 注社会主义政策。
5.普遍意义上的银行、保险、监管机构和金融业。无论是支行的柜员、财 务顾问、会计师、信贷员，抑或其他任何一个以为你提供银行产品或财务建议 为生的人，所有这些从业人员的职业生涯都将受到威胁。到21世纪20年代初， 任何仍须客户提交书面申请表格和签名的金融机构都将迅速衰退，而且很可 能到2025年将不复存在。100年后，当我们回看这个增强时代时，我们会意识 到，由于移动分销带来的消费者体验的改变，银行柜员将成为受冲击最大且 衰退最快的职业。风险模型将发生戏剧性变化，产品设计与合规方式同样也 将发生变化。20亿使用智能电话的新开户消费者将不再需要银行分支机构、 银行卡或支票簿。他们将创造全新的、建立在高科技基础上、能够提供实时理 财建议和高效能（支付、信用和价值商店）的低利润超级银行。
增强时代的赢家将是：
1.技术精英。这些人将继续投资新技术，因为这是他们的拿手好戏。类似 过去几十年里微软的成长过程，我们将看到企业的起落沉浮，但像苹果公司、 谷歌和Facebook这样的市场参与者仍有大量的生长空间。
2.人工智能初创企业。这些企业是建构不断发展的世界架构的参与者， 比如谷歌旗下的DeepMind公司、Facebook旗下的Wit.ai公司、MetaMind公司、 Sentient Technologies公司、The Grid公司、Enlitic公司、x.ai公司等，不一而足。 同时，也别忘了机器智能参与方——无人驾驶汽车公司、医疗诊断和传感器
网络、IBM的机器人沃森等。我们并未看到这个行业如何兴起，但毫无疑问， 它将像之前的网络公司、社交媒体热潮或个人电脑浪潮一样，而且这个行业 只会更大。
3.智能基础设施。无人驾驶汽车、电动汽车的制造，智能电网运营，可再生 能源和家用电池的部署，基于纳米技术的水处理和脱盐工艺，机器人和无人 机递送网络以及普遍的智能城市基础设施在未来20年都将成为蓬勃发展的 行业。到2030年，约3000万人将会从事通过太阳能和可再生能源重塑世界的 工作。
4.物联网。你周围的一切都开始变得智能——从智能器具、智能汽车、智 能眼镜，逐步扩展到融入我们所处世界的传感器、屏幕和各种算法。当我们在 几年后完全使用机器来处理各种日常事务时，传感器网络将激增且小型的计 算设备将遍布全球：一切都需要打开或闭合，那些需要用某种方式进行监控 的事物都将成为与云端连接的物联网的组成部分。这类事物包括实时监控我 们健康状况和生命体征的可穿戴设备、可吸收设备以及传感器。
5.联接发展中世界。在诸如比尔及梅琳达·盖茨基金会、Facebook、谷歌和 全球互联网组织Internet.org等机构的主导下，我们将主要通过移动设备推动 20亿到25亿人接入网络。低价、无处不在的智能电话将兴起，而且逐渐地，互 联网接入也将势必勃兴，紧随其后的将是商业化运作。
6.程序开发者、人机交互和体验设计从业者。未来整个世界都需要进行 编码，融合到新技术所构建的新体验和新工艺流程之中。
7.健康技术和金融科技的提供商。这两个行业将由新科技主导。这些提 供商将取代业界现有的主导者，它们将与其合作获取所缺失的核心竞争力， 它们也将被收购并逐步成长为未来这个行业的独角兽公司。
8.个人人工智能提供商。无论是虚拟机器人助手Facebook M还是下一代 的Siri、微软小娜、Alexa/Echo、Jibo和其他产品，智能数字伴侣和个人助手的 出现都是大买卖，特别是当各种设备的智能化程度足以实时而积极地回应我
们的需求的时候。
9.增强现实、虚拟现实、增强视觉和个人平视显示系统。增强视觉体验以 及将数字现实技术融入视觉体验的领域将是一个巨大的投资和消费领域。电 影将向交互式互动体验转变，游戏将变得越来越像电影，而我们将时不时地 前往虚拟世界小憩。社交将越来越依靠增强现实或虚拟现实得以实现，特别 是在需要互动的工作场合。
10.奇特的超材料和3D打印。将这两类技术放在一起讨论似有不妥，但它 们实质上都属于智能制造和智能建筑，以及使用纳米技术等科技的各种材料 的高级应用。我们将打造透明的铝、碳纤维纳米管、智能服装、能改变其属性 的反应性和响应性材料、智能聚合物、压电材料、热电材料和照相工艺材料， 以及在原子层面对其进行加工的材料和用于建造机器、房屋、器具与各种居 家物品的3D打印机.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the book does a decent job of summarizing technology trends and forecasting where things are likely to head in the next couple of decades, it's biased outlook paints a distorted view of the situation.

Large parts of the content reads like it was copied verbatim from corporate press releases and marketing materials, including several assertions from people like elon musk that are taken at face value without any fact checking (and have since been debunked).

Not only is the focus strongly American-centric, there is very regard towards the poor and working classes. Rather than worry about the millions of people who's jobs will be lost due to automation, the authors gush about how their AI-powered personal assistants will be able to provide a level of service that only the 1% can currently afford. But the examples given are somewhat silly, like automatically booking tickets and making hotel reservations based on a meeting invite without even bothering to ask if the person actually wants to go, let alone worry about who is going to pay for the trip.

The authors reject the importance of privacy, flat out declaring that it's no longer a reasonable expectation to hide anything from our corporate overlords or governments, Shoshana Zuboff and Cory Doctorow be damned. And even if the reader is willing to give in, there is no mention of data or information security, or even a hint that all of our juicy personal secrets may be used by bad actors for nefarious purposes, or how to defend ourselves.

I have some other quibbles, but the major one is the rejection of a core/liberal arts education as being important to create a well-rounded productive member of society. If the activity isn't directly contributing to shareholder value and executive bonuses, then it obviously isn't important. But that's ok, because the AI algorithms will keep them sated with a constant stream of mindless entertainment to numb the senses and make the low paid 20-hr "gig economy" workday with no benefits or job security seem reasonable.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I tend to be hesitant of new technology, scared of giving up privacy, and worries about the moral implication new tech brings. This book has an overall positive outlook of the technology coming in the not-so-distant future and gives a great historic overview of past disrupters and technological changes, as well as those hesitant to change. Although it is just a prediction of what could happen in the future, the book is well researched and covers many different fields.

This book made me more likely to accept new technology into my life and less afraid of the future Some things, however, are still scary and I think the author is a bit too optimistic about some of the moral questions we will have to face in bio-engineering and reaching the singularity, to give a couple examples.

I feel more prepared as we push forward into the next decade, knowing what to look out for as emerging technologies or big changes that may be coming. I felt like this was especially important to read as a parent of young kids, to have an understanding of what world they might be coming of age in, and helping them prepare for success as tech becomes more integrated into our lives. I almost labeled this as a “self improvement” book because if even some of the things discussed in the book become true, we need to educated ourselves and our children differently, invest differently, plan for an extended lifespan, etc.

I listened as an audiobook, but I think this would be a great book to have on hand and reference back to. Also, some parts certainly went over my head with details, but overall the author did a good job of making in understandable to everyone and not just tech nerds.

I recommend this book, it’s full of great insights of what could be our norm in the next 10 to 20 years. I certainly am rooting for the AI personal assistant!

[Vedat Guven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teknoloji desteği ile görme, kas gücü, hafıza, işitme ve teşhiş konularında normalin çok üstünde performans gösterme: Artırılmış (augmented). Bunlar için sensor, gps ve chipler kullanılıyor. Chip'leri vücudumuza monte edeceğiz veya içimizde ilgili bir yere yerleştireceğiz. Ancak chip taktırmak istemezsek; sağlık sigortası yaptıramayacağız, kan şekerimizi, emboli veya kalp krizini önceden uyarısını alamayacağız. Kariyerimiz ne olacak? Daha iyi görmek, daha hızlı hareket etmek, daha çok iş yapmak, daha kuvetli olmak veya başka bir konuda üstün olmak istemeyecek miyiz? Ben saf kalayım, istemiyorum desek bile, iş yerindeki arkadaşımız kabul edecek ve kariyer yarışında geriye düşeceğiz. YAşlanmamak için chip taktırmak gerekecek, sağlığımızı takip etmek ve bozulmamasını sağlamak için. Sonuçta, chip taktırmaktan kaçış yok. Chip ile manipüle edilmeyeceğimiz, algımızın yönetilmeyeceği, gözetim altında tutulmayacağımız ve mahremiyetimizi kaybetmeyeceğimiz güvenlik önlemleri şart.

Aracıların ve kayıt sisteminin sıkıntılarını dile getirmesine rağmen, blokzincirden konu açmıyor olması kitabın değerini azalttı gözümde. Konu açılmamış olsa bile özel bir başlık olarak da blokzincir konusunun işlenmesini beklerdim.

[Nilesh Jasani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Augmented is a book about the technologies that are currently being worked on. It provides a good overview of many new products/solutions/concepts that are being "innovated". From AI, genetics, bionics, 3-D printing, robotics, AR, VR, automated cars, solar, batteries, nanotech, cryptos, big data, etc, the way we live is going to be overhauled completely in coming years, and the book does a good job giving a glimpse of what is coming.

That said, the book provides little new over and above what one might get browsing the net on these technologies or by following the announcements of many new-age companies. Whatever the new world ahead is, it will be soon superseded by something else and then else and else. The book makes no attempt to consider beyond the next product cycle. Even if it briefly mentions problems like imminent job losses, there is no discussion beyond the obvious.

There is definitely a lot of good information here for anyone reading the book in 2017/18. However, like a good editorial on a fast-developing current affair, this book is going to be extremely dated in no time.

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2019.11.09–2019.11.11

Contents

King B, Lightman A, Rangaswami JP, & Lark A (2016) (12:23) Augmented - Life in the Smart Lane

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I: 250 Years of Disruption

01. The History of Technology Disruption
• The Industrial or Machine Age (1800–1945)
• • Social Effects of the Machine Age
• The Atomic, Jet or Space Age (1945–1975)
• • Social Impact of Rockets, Tronics and Nukes?
• The Information or Digital Age (1975–2015)
• • The Most Efficient Profits in History

02. The Augmented Age
• It’s Happened Before, It Will Happen Again
• How Disruption Is Evident through the Ages
• Employment Impact
• Gigging, Job-hopping and Cloud-based Employment
• When Life Is Augmented

03. When Computers Disappear
• Networks and Interwebs
• The Evolution of the Interface and Interaction Design
• Moving from Screens to Sensors
• The Progression from Software to Ubiquitous Computing
• From CPU on a Chip to Computers in Everything, Everywhere
• Can You Tell You Are Talking to a Computer?
• The Turing Test or Not…

04. The Robot Advantage (Contributed by Alex Lightman, Edited by Brett King)
• Bridging the Uncanny Valley
• The Robot Growth Explosion
• • Building a Robot in Your Garage?
• Living in a Robot-dominated World
• • The Emerging Job Requirement of a Robot Skill Base
• • Key Themes: Reasons to be Hopeful
• • Key Themes: Reasons to be Concerned
• • Amazon Loves Robot Workers
• The Robot Will See You Now
• • Robotic Nurses
• • Robots in Eldercare
• • Augmenting Care of our Ageing Populations
• Humanoid Robots
• Do Robots Need to Look like Humans? (Exclusive Interview with Eliot Mack, founder of Lightcraft Technology)
• Why Robots Need Empathy
• The Big Questions on our Robot Future

Part II: How the Smart World Learns

05. Human 2.0 (By Alex Lightman and Brett King)
• From Quantified to Activated Self
• • Quantified Fitness
• • Quantifying the Role of Sleep
• • Quantified Calorie Intake
• • Hacking Lifespan
• • The Activated Self
• • Telomere Length
• • Ventilatory Capacity (and VO2 Max)
• • Sarcopenia
• • Osteopenia
• • Neuropenia or Neural Degredation
• Rethinking Diagnosis and Augmenting Medicine
• • Microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics
• • Personalised and Precision Medicine
• Bioaugmentation
• • CRISPR/Cas9 and TALEN Gene Editing
• • Near-term Applications for Gene Therapy (2020–2030)
• • Transgenics and Replacement Organs (2025–2040)
• • 3D Bioprinting

06. The Augmented Man
• We Can Rebuild Him
• • The 3D-printed Bionic Man
• • Brain–Machine Interfaces
• Sensors, Wearables, Ingestibles and Feedback Loops
• Enhancing our Senses
• • Augmented Reality, Personal HUDs and Vision Enhancement
• • Health, Vital Statistics and Biometrics
• • Contextual Decision-making and Optimisation
• • Vision Optimisation and Enhancement Capabilities (Longer Term)
• • Bionic and Binaural Hearing Enhancements
• Living with Augmented and Virtual Reality
• • The Reality–Virtuality Continuum
• • The Mixed Reality Spectrum
• Augmented Intelligence

07. Life Stream, Agents, Avatars and Advisers
• Living with your Personal Life Stream
• • Agent Avatars at your Command
• What Hatsune Miku Teaches Us about Avatars
• • Facts about Hatsune Miku
• Death of a Salesman
• • The Big Data Theory: AIs Will Analyse much more Data
• • The Best Advice Is Real Time
• • Machines Will Be Better at Learning about You

Part III: The Augmented Age

08. Trains, Planes, Automobiles and Houses
• Living with Self-driving Cars
• Beyond the A380, Flying Cars and Robot Drones
• Maglev and the Hyperloop
• Home Is Where the Smarts Are

09. Smart Banking, Payments and Money
• Always Banking, Never at a Bank
• • Mobile Is the Bank Account
• Impact on the World’s Financial Ecosystem
• • No More Credit Cards
• The Role of Money in Augmented Commerce
• • Making Money More Efficient
• • Why We Need a Blockchain
• When Your Self-driving Car Has a Bank Account
• • Why the Augmented Age Is really Bad for Banks
• • FinTech, HealthTech, Everything Tech

10. Trust and Privacy in an Augmented World (Contributed by JP Rangaswami)
• Trust Is Connected
• • Notifications and Status Alerts
• • Contextual Warnings and Alerts
• • Access Tokens
• • Presence Signalling
• Trust Is Always Social
• Trust and Privacy at Odds

11. Augmented Cities with Smart Citizens (By Alex Lightman and Brett King)
• Why Do We Live in Cities?
• Building truly Smart Cities
• • Smart Collaboration: Governments and Citizens Working Together
• • Smart Transportation Systems
• • Smart Grids and Energy Systems
• • Smart Health Care
• • Smart Pollution Reduction
• • Smart Emergency Response Systems
• Augmented Cities
• • The Potential for Augmented Reality in Cities
• • Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Smart Cities
• • Will AIs Be the “Smart” behind Smart Cities?

12. The New Era of Engagement (Contributed by Andy Lark, Edited by Brett King)
• Augmented Moments
• • Augmented Service Delivery (2015–2020)
• • Experiences Re-invented and Distributed (2020–2025)
• • The World of Instant Products (2025–2040)
• Reshaping How We Shop
• • Four Technology Forces Reshaping the Future of Retail and Travel
• • First: Augmented by the Cloud
• • Second: Augmented by Mobile and Wearables
• • Third: Augmented by Beacons
• • Fourth: Augmented by Sensory Experiences
• The Impact of Robots and AI on the Retail Industry
• • The Machines Are Watching and Listening

Conclusions: Life in the Smart Lane
• Living in an Augmented World
• • The Gigging Japanophile, Hannah King (Age 25), Circa 2027—Tokyo, Japan
• • The Biohacker, Alex Lightman (Chronological Age 68, Biological Age 35), Circa 2030—Santa Monica, California, USA
• • The Hackathon Apprentice, Matt King (Age 23), Circa 2026—New York (Lower East Side), USA
• • The Social Producer, Rachel Morrissey (Age 37), Circa 2023—Bay Area, California, USA
• The Big Predictions
• • Employment and Business in the Augmented Age—Winners and Losers
• The Roadmap for the Augmented Age

About the Author
About the Contributors

[Alan Couzens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of "how AI will change the world" books of late &, to me, this one does the best job of toeing that line between "wake up call" & "utopian future" It definitely demands for a course correction in explaining how the nature of all business is about to change and the consequent role of the humans within those businesses will change to. It's a call to action to learn new skills &, perhaps, relearn some of the old skills that are unique to humans. Ultimately, though, it presents a positive view of the future - a future in which humans and machines work together to an end that is greater than the sum of the parts, a future in which machines don't replace humans with their artificial intelligence, but instead *augment* our own intelligence for the greater good of society.

[Roberto Hortal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hit and miss attempt at futurism. Some of the ideas and facts may be useful to new explorers of the subject. But the (main) author suffers from a strong case of lack of imagination and critical thinking. As an example (spoiler alert!) think about an example featuring a journalist of the future preparing a story with help from an AI who creates a text version - with no images or supporting video! Even today newspapers publish video and interactive media. Not just inability to predict the future: inability to observe the present!

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a semi interesting overview of all the different technologies currently being developed that promise to alter and enhance our lives. It was overly optimistic, the author totally blew it and missed the point when it came to bitcoin (he repeated that stupid "blockchain not bitcoin" meme that has produced nothing but wasted resources in nearly a decade). He seemed not to consider any of the fundamental challenges or trade offs we're likely to experience. And of course almost all his predictions are conveniently 20-30 years away.

[Sean Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Augmented by Brett King looks at the technology of today (2016 at the of publication), and tries to predict future trends in tech.

This was a so-so book for me. King doesn't adequate address security concerns, and as this book was written several years ago, many of the companies he references have had large data breaches, or in the case of Theranos, were proven to be frauds.

If I had read this book when it was first published, or if it were not so optimistic, I think I would have enjoyed it much more.

[jimsgravitas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Naive and nothing new. That pretty much sums it up. Idiotic idealism... no one can possibly use these technologies for ill, we won't bother considering the nasty alternatives, the lack of freedom and choice, you'll all miss out if you don't like it and we do not care. Your socialism 2.0 is just authoritarianism 101 with drones. This book comes off as nothing more than naive much like Ramez Naam's Nexus did. Precisely no deeper thought into the philosophies that surround these concepts has been done.

[Mark Vedel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book. It was well written and very informative. It made me think long and hard about the very real possiblities that our future holds and the trends to pay attention to. As I seek to constantly refocus my attention and refresh my skills to stay relevant, this was a great guidebook of what to look for in our very near future. It made me acutely aware of the many things that are moving from science fiction to reality right before our eyes. I would highly recommend it to any that are trying to imagine their place in the emerging future that is NOW.

[Mark Jestel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictions of where we are going as a species in a technological world. This non-fiction book challenges our beliefs and helps us consider where technology is leading us. I love books like these not only because they show an optimistic future, but also because of how unpredictable our path can be. With this book being published in 2016, it is fascinating to see what they've gotten right so far and how unpredictable elements like the pandemic significantly swayed our path. Overall a very interesting book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking at the future of tech is an interesting study. Some of the near term predictions are lacking at this point, but most of the ideas expressed by the authors do have merit. I enjoyed some of the essays that were included in the book. I got quite a bit of insight into things to do today in preparation for future developments and gained a perspective on how my generation's views of privacy and community will be subject to change.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book that paints an incredible portrait for the world in the near future and outlines the changes to medicine, education, manufacturing, entertainment, government and much much more. I highly recommend this for anyone who intends to live in the future.

[George Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly eye opening read. What is interesting is that he sees technology affecting our lifestyle and our health, both in a positive way. Like all futurists he should be viewed with some skepticism though.

[Jordan Ricks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gave a decent overview of where our current technologies could go in the next decades but little else. I had hoped for some analysis, some philosophical speculation, some opinion. As it is, the book is very bland. Probably written for a non-tech focused audience.

[Terra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the current trajectory of tech and the impacts it will have in our life. I compare it to Physics of the Future but this is a little more accessible without needing to be a science geek.

[Eliram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trivial, superficial analysis of what is already quite obvious about current technological trends. Lots of fluff and repetition. This book can be condensed into a magazine article of a few pages.
The excessive amount of times Moor’s law is mentioned is quite annoying.