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Os Robôs Vão Roubar Seu Trabalho, Mas Tudo Bem: como sobreviver ao colapso econômico e ser feliz
Você está prestes a se tornar obsoleto. Você acha que é especial, único, e que é impossível substituí-lo naquilo que está fazendo. Você está errado. Enquanto falamos, milhões de algoritmos criados por cientistas da computação estão funcionando freneticamente em servidores de todo o mundo com um único propósito: fazer o que os humanos podem fazer, mas melhor.” Este é o argumento para um fenômeno chamado “desemprego tecnológico” que assombra a sociedade moderna. Mas seria essa uma ameaça real ou apenas uma fantasia futurística? O que acontecerá conosco nos próximos anos e o que podemos fazer para evitar uma crise catastrófica nas relações de trabalho? O livro de Federico Pistono, que rapidamente se tornou um sucesso internacional, explora o impacto dos avanços tecnológicos em nossa vida, o que significa ser feliz e dá sugestões de como evitar um possível colapso total do sistema.
248 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 15, 2013
The book is perhaps worth a read, if you aren't up-to-date with the modern digital/hacker culture but is lacking in many ways despite some good ideas and to be honest one would probably learn more just from hanging out on Reddit's various tech-based subreddits and /r/futurology.
The book seems to have an abundance of references (a good thing!) for relatively uncontroversial statements and yet then makes bold statements like:
without any references at all.
It would have been nice to go into more detail about some of the new frontiers of technology such as 3D Printing, MOOC's, Machine Learning, robotics etc. as whilst they all get mentioned int he book it seems very brief (although the book is very short in general) and feels almost like a draft of ideas rather than a finished text and investigation.
The parts on happiness just read like a self-help book and again it is so brief that although it seems like the author has done extensive research in this area you don't really benefit from it. There were some interesting ideas in this section though, but again it could be fleshed out.
In the solutions section he includes an example budget to show that the average person can afford thousands of dollars to retrofit their home - yet his example budget is pre-tax and has no housing costs!?! In a world where rent and mortgage payments dwarf almost all other expenditure! This might be because full home ownership is commonplace in the author's native Italy but it seems a grave oversight when the author himself states at the start of the book that he is writing it to be relevant to America.
The final part of the book is by far the worst and its inclusion is frankly bizarre - it discusses the thermodynamic impossibility of exponential growth in an extraordinarily simplified strawman manner. It is clearly impossible to sustain infinite growth on a planet with finite resources and one also has to wonder what the purpose of it would be - for at some stage we would already have attained all the comforts etc. we needed so what would then continue to drive increased consumption? It appears that the function of growth is more likely to be a sigmoid than an exponential function and will eventually plateau once our desires are met - populations seem to steady in developed nations as well which supports this idea that we will reach a limit.
I seemed to find that the author was focused on Solar Power which whilst it does have a great deal of promise, also causes great environmental problems in its manufacture and the extraction and processing of the rare earth materials required for it's production.
Finally the concluding part is simply idiocy. I was amazed that after a largely intelligent argument the book could conclude with such stupidity but nonetheless that was the case. The author concludes with:
Completely ignoring the fact that nuclear fusion and space colonisation could solve many of the scarcity issues that are causing those prior problems. The two are hardly unrelated!
Having studied plasma physics and read books with a far superior treatment of the topic see: An Indispensable Truth: How Fusion Power Can Save The Planet I feel obliged to state that the Fusion Triple Product of energy confinement time, plasma temperature and plasma density - the figure of merit used in fusion experiments, has increased at an exponential rate exceeding that of the density of transistors on chips - the beloved Moore's law, that canonical example of rapid progress.
Of course all of this is academic anyway - what the hell does any of this have to do with technological unemployment - the actual topic of the book!? Perhaps it was meant to be an appendix? Given that as I previously mentioned the book is often extremely brief and shallow and feels like a draft waiting to be fleshed out surely the space could be better used than for an unrelated tangent?
The author mentions that the book is self-published which I support and is a good development in publishing however it still feels like the book is in dire need of an editor - one job which is perhaps safe from the robots for now!
The book seems to have an abundance of references (a good thing!) for relatively uncontroversial statements and yet then makes bold statements like:
It turns out that just giving people money is not enough. We know that because people with full unemployment benefits were reportedly less happy than those who were employed, with otherwise similar characterises (controlling for other variables). Work does matter, after all.
without any references at all.
It would have been nice to go into more detail about some of the new frontiers of technology such as 3D Printing, MOOC's, Machine Learning, robotics etc. as whilst they all get mentioned int he book it seems very brief (although the book is very short in general) and feels almost like a draft of ideas rather than a finished text and investigation.
The parts on happiness just read like a self-help book and again it is so brief that although it seems like the author has done extensive research in this area you don't really benefit from it. There were some interesting ideas in this section though, but again it could be fleshed out.
In the solutions section he includes an example budget to show that the average person can afford thousands of dollars to retrofit their home - yet his example budget is pre-tax and has no housing costs!?! In a world where rent and mortgage payments dwarf almost all other expenditure! This might be because full home ownership is commonplace in the author's native Italy but it seems a grave oversight when the author himself states at the start of the book that he is writing it to be relevant to America.
The final part of the book is by far the worst and its inclusion is frankly bizarre - it discusses the thermodynamic impossibility of exponential growth in an extraordinarily simplified strawman manner. It is clearly impossible to sustain infinite growth on a planet with finite resources and one also has to wonder what the purpose of it would be - for at some stage we would already have attained all the comforts etc. we needed so what would then continue to drive increased consumption? It appears that the function of growth is more likely to be a sigmoid than an exponential function and will eventually plateau once our desires are met - populations seem to steady in developed nations as well which supports this idea that we will reach a limit.
I seemed to find that the author was focused on Solar Power which whilst it does have a great deal of promise, also causes great environmental problems in its manufacture and the extraction and processing of the rare earth materials required for it's production.
Finally the concluding part is simply idiocy. I was amazed that after a largely intelligent argument the book could conclude with such stupidity but nonetheless that was the case. The author concludes with:
We have not learned to take care of our gerbil (peak oil, environmental degradation), yet we are asking for a pony (fusion or whatever supposedly infinite supply of energy we have in mind, space colonisation, infinite growth). This is quite arrogant and irresponsible at the same time.
We ought to be better than spoiled little children. It is time to grow up and move forward.
Completely ignoring the fact that nuclear fusion and space colonisation could solve many of the scarcity issues that are causing those prior problems. The two are hardly unrelated!
Having studied plasma physics and read books with a far superior treatment of the topic see: An Indispensable Truth: How Fusion Power Can Save The Planet I feel obliged to state that the Fusion Triple Product of energy confinement time, plasma temperature and plasma density - the figure of merit used in fusion experiments, has increased at an exponential rate exceeding that of the density of transistors on chips - the beloved Moore's law, that canonical example of rapid progress.
Of course all of this is academic anyway - what the hell does any of this have to do with technological unemployment - the actual topic of the book!? Perhaps it was meant to be an appendix? Given that as I previously mentioned the book is often extremely brief and shallow and feels like a draft waiting to be fleshed out surely the space could be better used than for an unrelated tangent?
The author mentions that the book is self-published which I support and is a good development in publishing however it still feels like the book is in dire need of an editor - one job which is perhaps safe from the robots for now!
February 16, 2013
Federico has written a much needed assessment of where jobs in the economy are already headed in the US and around the world. By now it should be clear that technology and automation will become the dominant means of production, and the transition will mean less and less people being employed. The question for us now is not how do we create more jobs, but more so how do we create a society in which less and less people need to work.
The first half of Federico's book describes well the issues of unemployment, exponential growth, information technology, and artificial intelligence. He clearly understands the problems and challenges of technological unemployment in a capitalist society. One of the most salient points he makes in his book is, "Today, most of the economy is a ghost economy a financial transactions, profit-maximization schemes and computer operations, with little regard to consequences… Today, a small group of the hundred and 47 mega transitional corporations form a giant bow tie structure, and economic super-entity that controls 40% of the entire world."
Technology and automation, using scientific research and planning, could ultimately alleviate worldwide poverty, lead to universal education, medical care, and an overall better way of life for us all. But technological unemployment means that people will not have the jobs they need in order to buy the goods and services that so-called free market, capitalist system relies upon.
In the second half of his book, Federico proposes ways to "survive the economic collapse", but his suggestions are primarily based on learning how to do more with less. He advocates for self-education, eating more healthy, learning to grow your own food, and conserving energy in your home. This is all good advice, but I think there needs to be more discussion about systemic and structural changes within the capitalist economic structure.
There is no point in people working jobs in which technology and automation can perform the same tasks more efficiently. Far too many of us perform jobs in which we carry out mundane tasks only so we can make a paycheck to pay bills. This is not the best use of human labor and intelligence. There are far more better things we can do with our time, creativity, and intelligence.
"Robots Will Steal Your Job" is an important contribution to a growing body of books (“Abundance”, "The End of Work”, "Lights in the Tunnel", and "Race against the Machine") on this topic.
The first half of Federico's book describes well the issues of unemployment, exponential growth, information technology, and artificial intelligence. He clearly understands the problems and challenges of technological unemployment in a capitalist society. One of the most salient points he makes in his book is, "Today, most of the economy is a ghost economy a financial transactions, profit-maximization schemes and computer operations, with little regard to consequences… Today, a small group of the hundred and 47 mega transitional corporations form a giant bow tie structure, and economic super-entity that controls 40% of the entire world."
Technology and automation, using scientific research and planning, could ultimately alleviate worldwide poverty, lead to universal education, medical care, and an overall better way of life for us all. But technological unemployment means that people will not have the jobs they need in order to buy the goods and services that so-called free market, capitalist system relies upon.
In the second half of his book, Federico proposes ways to "survive the economic collapse", but his suggestions are primarily based on learning how to do more with less. He advocates for self-education, eating more healthy, learning to grow your own food, and conserving energy in your home. This is all good advice, but I think there needs to be more discussion about systemic and structural changes within the capitalist economic structure.
There is no point in people working jobs in which technology and automation can perform the same tasks more efficiently. Far too many of us perform jobs in which we carry out mundane tasks only so we can make a paycheck to pay bills. This is not the best use of human labor and intelligence. There are far more better things we can do with our time, creativity, and intelligence.
"Robots Will Steal Your Job" is an important contribution to a growing body of books (“Abundance”, "The End of Work”, "Lights in the Tunnel", and "Race against the Machine") on this topic.
May 15, 2013
Overall this is an excellent book, although I think some of the recommendations in the later chapters are a bit expensive for most people and don't consider the problems of actually owning a house in the first place.
I also think some of the economic issues are slightly brushed over. For example, automation may cease to be profitable if the resulting unemployment creates a new equilibrium of lower wages/working conditions (one can look at the lack of automation in sweatshops for an example of this). This could harm the expected progress in automation and our society (it's often said that the Roman Empire was stunted by its reliance on slavery, which gave little incentive to research machinery).
This makes me slightly less optimistic than the author, but I am fortunate enough to work on machine learning myself, and absolutely support the idea of growing automation. It's terrible that people still must waste their lives sewing clothes and footballs, when it could be automated. It is a waste of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, and an insult to the value of life. Unfortunately in the current economic system, such automation just increases economic inequality and desperation.
Just imagine what we could achieve if all scientific journals were freely shared, all textbooks and classes were digitised and shared, the communal resources of the Earth were used for common benefit, as much work as possible was automated and the profits shared, and the economy was planned with AI to minimise misallocation and environmental damage. All of this is achievable with our current technology, it is only the traditions and beliefs of the past which hold us back.
I also think some of the economic issues are slightly brushed over. For example, automation may cease to be profitable if the resulting unemployment creates a new equilibrium of lower wages/working conditions (one can look at the lack of automation in sweatshops for an example of this). This could harm the expected progress in automation and our society (it's often said that the Roman Empire was stunted by its reliance on slavery, which gave little incentive to research machinery).
This makes me slightly less optimistic than the author, but I am fortunate enough to work on machine learning myself, and absolutely support the idea of growing automation. It's terrible that people still must waste their lives sewing clothes and footballs, when it could be automated. It is a waste of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, and an insult to the value of life. Unfortunately in the current economic system, such automation just increases economic inequality and desperation.
Just imagine what we could achieve if all scientific journals were freely shared, all textbooks and classes were digitised and shared, the communal resources of the Earth were used for common benefit, as much work as possible was automated and the profits shared, and the economy was planned with AI to minimise misallocation and environmental damage. All of this is achievable with our current technology, it is only the traditions and beliefs of the past which hold us back.
April 18, 2014
Very poor book. The author stated at the beginning he knew little about the topic and it's shows. Wild generalizations and many assumptions. He shouldn't be allowed to publish books.
Second machine age is much much better.
Second machine age is much much better.
October 4, 2020
After spending so much time elaborating on the problem, the author offers the solution of spending less, growing your own food, making your own energy, and not owning car. As if it could be that simple! What about costs of housing, education (don't tell me 6 year olds will be learning from MOOCs in the future), healthcare, insurance (which he bizarrely advises against)? The final part of the book, which presents the supposed solution, is too quick and simplistic.
November 27, 2012
There is much I appreciate about this book, including the author's obvious enthusiasm and attention to the subject of automation and robots replacing human labor for good. There are particular sections about happiness and some good advice that I found personally useful.
Unfortunately, the book as a whole does not quite gel into a cohesive exploration of these important topics, and in fact, the book ends abruptly, without an explanation as to why the last topics are important to any overarching thesis. In particular, Part 3 and its focus on solutions is a collection of short chapters that might serve as good self help advice, but still doesn't provide an overall solution to millions of people losing their jobs to technology. There is a start of a solution there, and I appreciate that it focuses on the individual, but I think any good solution will need to address multiple scales, from the individual to humanity as a whole, and will need to be explored in a narrative that people will feel compelled to pay attention to. It might be okay to let robots take all the jobs, and it might be best for each of us to pursue self actualization and the right kinds of happiness in the right kinds of ways, but the two of these alone are only the very tip of an overall solution.
I was also put off by the number of spelling and grammatical errors, as well as some statements that felt naive or dismissive when the topic at hand required a deeper look. However, the author is relatively young and I think he will continue to improve rapidly as he continues to explore these and other topics and continues to lecture and write more. In the end, I was thankful for a good summary of the current issue and links to additional resources. This discourse needs to continue, and I am looking forward to it maturing and getting into more comprehensive solutions.
Unfortunately, the book as a whole does not quite gel into a cohesive exploration of these important topics, and in fact, the book ends abruptly, without an explanation as to why the last topics are important to any overarching thesis. In particular, Part 3 and its focus on solutions is a collection of short chapters that might serve as good self help advice, but still doesn't provide an overall solution to millions of people losing their jobs to technology. There is a start of a solution there, and I appreciate that it focuses on the individual, but I think any good solution will need to address multiple scales, from the individual to humanity as a whole, and will need to be explored in a narrative that people will feel compelled to pay attention to. It might be okay to let robots take all the jobs, and it might be best for each of us to pursue self actualization and the right kinds of happiness in the right kinds of ways, but the two of these alone are only the very tip of an overall solution.
I was also put off by the number of spelling and grammatical errors, as well as some statements that felt naive or dismissive when the topic at hand required a deeper look. However, the author is relatively young and I think he will continue to improve rapidly as he continues to explore these and other topics and continues to lecture and write more. In the end, I was thankful for a good summary of the current issue and links to additional resources. This discourse needs to continue, and I am looking forward to it maturing and getting into more comprehensive solutions.
October 13, 2015
Don't read this Book.
Buying it is a vast of your money, and reading it a vast of your time.
I has high expectations of the book, as I am very interested in the topic, and was shocked by the poor quality of the discussion presented in this book.
The author fails completely to convince me using any of the strange arguments and lines of reasoning presented in the first part of the book. The second part seems to be a collection of live-insights by the author, mostly unrelated to the topic of the book, and the last chapter feels completely unrelated to the initial *problem*.
On too many occasion in the book one has the feeling that it is written by a young computer geek that is thinking of himself and of this *generation* as the first thinking people to ever wonder on this planet, the first that every learned to; as the author calls it, think Problem solving oriented. Filled with bizarre *facts* it feels like someone just scrambled a bunch of redit postings into chapters and at last a book.
Buying it is a vast of your money, and reading it a vast of your time.
I has high expectations of the book, as I am very interested in the topic, and was shocked by the poor quality of the discussion presented in this book.
The author fails completely to convince me using any of the strange arguments and lines of reasoning presented in the first part of the book. The second part seems to be a collection of live-insights by the author, mostly unrelated to the topic of the book, and the last chapter feels completely unrelated to the initial *problem*.
On too many occasion in the book one has the feeling that it is written by a young computer geek that is thinking of himself and of this *generation* as the first thinking people to ever wonder on this planet, the first that every learned to; as the author calls it, think Problem solving oriented. Filled with bizarre *facts* it feels like someone just scrambled a bunch of redit postings into chapters and at last a book.
July 8, 2018
This book ended up disappointing me...too much self help material, very generic and tired self help material like “eat less meat.” How is eating less meat going to help you when a robot takes your job? I guess by lowering your grocery bill, you will survive. This book is full of left wing preachiness, and advocates for a basic universal income, even though the author cites studies that show humans get a lot of satisfaction from doing things. Also, some of the material is now outdated seven years from print. When this book came out, there was a lot of optimism and hope in the Open Source movement. I recall those hopes around 2011...not sure how much those hopes have panned out.....my final criticism: for a smart guy, I can’t believe how many typos are in this book. Dude, you shoulda hired a GOOD proofreader.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2019
Yet again I give more stars just because I like a concept.
Fine, let's start from the beginning. I wanted to read something about automation in different industries, how to solve the problem of growing unemployment, new skills etc. Because I am Spotify's addict and I found there this audiobook I gave it a try.
So, yeah, what did I like the most? The concept of the book and that enthusiasm that we can solve even game-changing challenges together if we change our old ways of thinking. I cannot say that I found a lot of new stuff but I really liked Pistono's clear view about politics (lobbying, bribing, working for the strongest ones etc. - no pink glasses here) and our society (growing unemployment, tensions, some people will be left behind, that hard work won't pay if the system goes against you). I loved parts about activism, sharing economy, open data, ecology... Even his book is free to distribute as you wish. There is no need to say, that I cheer his attitude but...
It was like a very long blog post: the structure of the book is flawed, too many words repeating the same thing (seriously, you can give the same value with 3 sentences, not with 13), there are some nice examples but most of them weren't mind-blowing and many places reek like superficial... As I have mentioned before, it would be a really good blog post or an article in a magazine but it is too weak if it is published as a book.
Anyway, it was a good start for my futuristic, non-fiction period :)
Here: listen to a good song for no reason at all, it's Friday: M.I.A. "P.O.W.A.": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkkr-...
Fine, let's start from the beginning. I wanted to read something about automation in different industries, how to solve the problem of growing unemployment, new skills etc. Because I am Spotify's addict and I found there this audiobook I gave it a try.
So, yeah, what did I like the most? The concept of the book and that enthusiasm that we can solve even game-changing challenges together if we change our old ways of thinking. I cannot say that I found a lot of new stuff but I really liked Pistono's clear view about politics (lobbying, bribing, working for the strongest ones etc. - no pink glasses here) and our society (growing unemployment, tensions, some people will be left behind, that hard work won't pay if the system goes against you). I loved parts about activism, sharing economy, open data, ecology... Even his book is free to distribute as you wish. There is no need to say, that I cheer his attitude but...
It was like a very long blog post: the structure of the book is flawed, too many words repeating the same thing (seriously, you can give the same value with 3 sentences, not with 13), there are some nice examples but most of them weren't mind-blowing and many places reek like superficial... As I have mentioned before, it would be a really good blog post or an article in a magazine but it is too weak if it is published as a book.
Anyway, it was a good start for my futuristic, non-fiction period :)
Here: listen to a good song for no reason at all, it's Friday: M.I.A. "P.O.W.A.": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zkkr-...
January 8, 2018
Si no se sabe de qué va a ir el futuro próximo (el presente más bien, al ser un libro de 2012, y un poquito más) en el terreno laboral y se quiere indagar un poco, leer el libro no hará daño; pero estando más o menos informado, probablemente queda más un libro de autoayuda y autosuficiencia que de tecnología.
Teniendo en cuenta [la primera parte de] el título, con optimismo se salva la Parte I... aunque quizá únicamente los capítulos 7 a 8. Como se menciona en un párrafo, la motivación era más escribir sobre el cambio de objetivo social y global, buscando la felicidad en lugar del PIB, que sobre la tecnología y automatización.
Muy documentado, como tanto a favor, y por eso mismo no hace falta el tono tan didáctico-paternalista con el que está escrita la primera parte; quien quisiera saber más, podría ampliar información fácilmente.
Teniendo en cuenta [la primera parte de] el título, con optimismo se salva la Parte I... aunque quizá únicamente los capítulos 7 a 8. Como se menciona en un párrafo, la motivación era más escribir sobre el cambio de objetivo social y global, buscando la felicidad en lugar del PIB, que sobre la tecnología y automatización.
Muy documentado, como tanto a favor, y por eso mismo no hace falta el tono tan didáctico-paternalista con el que está escrita la primera parte; quien quisiera saber más, podría ampliar información fácilmente.
September 18, 2018
Este libro, que es producto de mucha investigación, nos propone una forma distinta de aproximarnos a la vida en el sistema capitalista actual, que tiende a la automatización de muchos trabajos.
El propósito es encontrar la felicidad.
Se divide en el diagnóstico de la realidad, con un montón de referencias bibliográficas, cómo llegamos a este punto y cómo parece que va a evolucionar. Luego viene la felicidad con un montón de estudios, buscando situar el concepto en esta realidad económica. Sigue una predicción del futuro, bastante lógica dentro de los argumentos proporcionados.
Y termina con acciones que se pueden llevar a cabo para manejar la búsqueda de la felicidad en este contexto.
No es un libro de autoayuda. Yo a este autor lo encontré en una Ted Talk sobre temas económicos y su postura siempre busca basarse en la ciencia, en estudios y datos.
Muy recomendado.
El propósito es encontrar la felicidad.
Se divide en el diagnóstico de la realidad, con un montón de referencias bibliográficas, cómo llegamos a este punto y cómo parece que va a evolucionar. Luego viene la felicidad con un montón de estudios, buscando situar el concepto en esta realidad económica. Sigue una predicción del futuro, bastante lógica dentro de los argumentos proporcionados.
Y termina con acciones que se pueden llevar a cabo para manejar la búsqueda de la felicidad en este contexto.
No es un libro de autoayuda. Yo a este autor lo encontré en una Ted Talk sobre temas económicos y su postura siempre busca basarse en la ciencia, en estudios y datos.
Muy recomendado.
June 1, 2017
I enjoyed this book. Pistono combined convincing data with a realistic but slightly optimistic outlook. I think this is an important book if you're curious about the future of work and if you're questioning our culture's way of defining it. I think this is also a good book if you're curious about how technology will shape our working lives which (not surprisingly) is one of the core aspects of our lives and that is about to change soon.
I finished the book feeling slightly scared but more invigorated by Pistono's bold statements about whether being employed automatically dictates value.
You will finish this book feeling a lot less special according to our current values but feeling hopeful about how human dignity can be measured in the future.
I finished the book feeling slightly scared but more invigorated by Pistono's bold statements about whether being employed automatically dictates value.
You will finish this book feeling a lot less special according to our current values but feeling hopeful about how human dignity can be measured in the future.
November 9, 2020
Letto per trarne informazioni sulla mia tesi, purtroppo é piuttosto datato come libro e vi sono supposizioni sul futuro che non si sono per nulla avverate, come il fatto che facebook sia solo qualcosa di passaggio.
La realtà ci dice però che sta dominando il mercato da più di un decennio.
Interessanti i suggerimenti in fondo pagina, che sembrano però più un riassunto di libri di crescita personale e quindi già note ad un lettore che si é già apprestato alla lettura di quel genere.
Dopotutto la ritengo una lettura piacevole e positiva.
I robot ci ruberanno davvero il lavoro, ma noi possiamo organizzarci per non rimanere fuori dal mercato dell'occupazione, incrementando le nostre skills e trovando il nostro perché .
La realtà ci dice però che sta dominando il mercato da più di un decennio.
Interessanti i suggerimenti in fondo pagina, che sembrano però più un riassunto di libri di crescita personale e quindi già note ad un lettore che si é già apprestato alla lettura di quel genere.
Dopotutto la ritengo una lettura piacevole e positiva.
I robot ci ruberanno davvero il lavoro, ma noi possiamo organizzarci per non rimanere fuori dal mercato dell'occupazione, incrementando le nostre skills e trovando il nostro perché .
May 31, 2018
A obra trás perspectivas bem diferentes daquelas geralmente encontradas em textos do gênero, além de uma ótima reflexão do futuro da civilização. Por fim, o livro é conduzido por muitas referências, trazendo melhor embasamento e clareza aos dados e fatos apresentados.
December 25, 2019
Spent 20 minutes reading the last part. Didn't even mention economic collapse
August 9, 2020
Awesome book about how exponential tech is going to massively change the landscape of employment as robotics and AI take over work while the technological singularity approaches
Read
March 6, 2023Review from the March 2013 issue of the Socialist Standard:
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blog...
https://socialiststandardmyspace.blog...
December 21, 2016
Going by the title and the synopsis, I thought this was going to be a book about how automation is going to continue on its exponential path, the social changes that are going to happen as a result, and how to weather them. Not so.
While it does tackle current trends in automation, and the concept of technological unemployment, it doesn't project much into the future and doesn't even start to speculate about social changes. It does however tell you how to be less dependent on energy and money in a way that's only tenuously related to the supposed main theme. I guess these things help after an economic collapse, but he goes straight from widespread unemployment to that, without even speculating about how it would take place.
The lack of an editor is quite apparent. The structure of the book is all over the place and never feels like it's developing on a central theme. Federico Pistono must have thought he could pull this off without any professional assistance, but was sadly mistaken.
He would probably chalk it down to eclectic interests, but good writers can tie together any collection of information under a common theme. It's not the diversity I have a problem with, but the lack of connections between the different parts.
Page-by-page the lack of an editor is quite apparent too. Frequent misspellings of the type a spellchecker won't catch, poor section and paragraph structure and bad formatting that leads to half the apostrophes in the book showing up as question marks, all combine to make this book rather annoying to read.
I should also mention the smugness that drips from every page. The author knows all things better than you do, and is giddy at the chance of educating you. Most paragraphs could end with ", you idiot." and it wouldn't change the tone of the book at all.
I'm convinced that if he were to see this review he'd decide that I "didn't get it" and fail to improve on anything for his next book.
There's no redeeming value here. The only part I found interesting was about current trends in automation. But I'm sure there's better books on that subject specifically. If someone knows a good book on the social changes likely to happen as a result of exponential automation and technological unemployment, I'm still looking.
While it does tackle current trends in automation, and the concept of technological unemployment, it doesn't project much into the future and doesn't even start to speculate about social changes. It does however tell you how to be less dependent on energy and money in a way that's only tenuously related to the supposed main theme. I guess these things help after an economic collapse, but he goes straight from widespread unemployment to that, without even speculating about how it would take place.
The lack of an editor is quite apparent. The structure of the book is all over the place and never feels like it's developing on a central theme. Federico Pistono must have thought he could pull this off without any professional assistance, but was sadly mistaken.
He would probably chalk it down to eclectic interests, but good writers can tie together any collection of information under a common theme. It's not the diversity I have a problem with, but the lack of connections between the different parts.
Page-by-page the lack of an editor is quite apparent too. Frequent misspellings of the type a spellchecker won't catch, poor section and paragraph structure and bad formatting that leads to half the apostrophes in the book showing up as question marks, all combine to make this book rather annoying to read.
I should also mention the smugness that drips from every page. The author knows all things better than you do, and is giddy at the chance of educating you. Most paragraphs could end with ", you idiot." and it wouldn't change the tone of the book at all.
I'm convinced that if he were to see this review he'd decide that I "didn't get it" and fail to improve on anything for his next book.
There's no redeeming value here. The only part I found interesting was about current trends in automation. But I'm sure there's better books on that subject specifically. If someone knows a good book on the social changes likely to happen as a result of exponential automation and technological unemployment, I'm still looking.
October 26, 2018
Aveces como informático que soy siempre me he preguntado que tanto impactará la automatización de las cosas en la sociedad y que tan preparado estamos para el cambio, este libro trata de darte una idea aproximada a lo que puede llegar a vivirse en un futuro no muy lejano con los avances de la inteligencia artificial, la robótica y muchos más avances de la tecnología. Sin lugar a dudas nuestro sistema económico está hecho para competir los unos a los otros y esto hará necesario la búsqueda de las mejores herramientas que hagan mejor y más eficiente nuestro trabajo sin importar que dichas herramientas sean las que reemplacen la labor que actualmente hacemos las personas, el libro finalmente te propone que como persona debes descubrir tu propio talento y de ser necesario reinventarte para disfrutar lo qué haces y finalmente te sugiere algunos tips que te ayudaran a ser una persona menos consumista y pienses más en sociedad, me encantó la sección donde se propone convertir un mundo de ideas abiertas para todos y de esa forma crecer todos juntos y de esta forma cambiar un poco el chip del individualismo al que nos acostumbramos.
October 25, 2016
While the topic at hand is really interesting, the author offers but a superficial glance at the most engaging topics, offering nothing but regurgitated ideas from others without any criticism or originality.
I'm an optimist and transhumanist/singularity enthusiast myself, but I know there are problems with the utopian view of an automated world. Dismissing strawman versions of cherry-picked arguments with the same widely circulated arguments the community spouts frequently is no way to foster a discussion, and borders on cultism.
This book would be a good read for beginners who want to know more about these kinds of views, if the editing wasn't such a mess. There are typos everywhere, opinions stated as facts, and wikipedia articles masquerading as legitimate sources (don't quote wikipedia, guys, learn to quote the sources wikipedia uses).
Even if you agree with the author's conclusions (which, for the most part, I did), the intellectual dishonesty at work here is astounding.
I'm an optimist and transhumanist/singularity enthusiast myself, but I know there are problems with the utopian view of an automated world. Dismissing strawman versions of cherry-picked arguments with the same widely circulated arguments the community spouts frequently is no way to foster a discussion, and borders on cultism.
This book would be a good read for beginners who want to know more about these kinds of views, if the editing wasn't such a mess. There are typos everywhere, opinions stated as facts, and wikipedia articles masquerading as legitimate sources (don't quote wikipedia, guys, learn to quote the sources wikipedia uses).
Even if you agree with the author's conclusions (which, for the most part, I did), the intellectual dishonesty at work here is astounding.
October 4, 2014
Whilst the central discussion of the book is pretty interesting, I found a lot of the other material pretty disjointed. The book leads with several chapters around the science and technological advances that will lead to loss of jobs through automation and what society will become as a result etc. Then the second half includes such random pieces of advice as growing your own food and eating less meat. Although these are presented in a reasonably convincing manner - I thought they had zero relation to what the author actually set out to address.
Other issues I had with the book which aren't related to the actual material covered - the formatting is horrendous, there are question marks where there should be apostrophes - zero idea how that wasn't picked up before being sent to mass publication. Also there are lots and lots of blank pages between chapters which almost feels like they're only there to bump up the page count.
Other issues I had with the book which aren't related to the actual material covered - the formatting is horrendous, there are question marks where there should be apostrophes - zero idea how that wasn't picked up before being sent to mass publication. Also there are lots and lots of blank pages between chapters which almost feels like they're only there to bump up the page count.
May 13, 2014
A pleasantly written book that gives a good overview of the technological unemployment idea. It is nice that the autor is so optimistic about the future, but I'm afraid that more is needed than the advise he is giving in the en of his book to tackle the problems we are probably facing. The solutions he gives are from a liberal and positive mindset. He proposes that people school and develop themselves to be happier and have a better chance when automatiob is going to take away jobs. But I think for a lot of people these sollutions are not workable, because they lack the knowledge, acces to resources or simple motivation. So the solutions are more for the people who already have the abbility to be succesful in life. I don't see good options for the vulnarable people in society yet...
December 12, 2013
Uno sguardo finalmente fresco ed "ottimista" al futuro che ci attende: un sano cambiamento di prospettiva che può aiutarci a valutare quanto accadrà e quanto sta già accadendo nelle nostre vite con una diversa "forma mentis".
Si può essere d'accordo con tutte le argomentazioni di Federico Pistono oppure dissentire su alcune di esse, non importa, ciò che importa è che ci vengono offerti nuovi strumenti per valutare situazioni nuove.
Si può essere d'accordo con tutte le argomentazioni di Federico Pistono oppure dissentire su alcune di esse, non importa, ciò che importa è che ci vengono offerti nuovi strumenti per valutare situazioni nuove.
June 25, 2015
Nothing bugs me more than someone that can't keep a promise. Even worse is someone who intentionally misleads to try to pass as something they're not.
Sorry, Federio, you're not RMS. Free shouldn't be gimped and plastered with guilt inducing advertisements. Quit trying to pass yourself off as something you're not.
This book isn't worth the time to read, let alone any money.
Sorry, Federio, you're not RMS. Free shouldn't be gimped and plastered with guilt inducing advertisements. Quit trying to pass yourself off as something you're not.
This book isn't worth the time to read, let alone any money.
Want to read
February 12, 2013Rec'd by Jana.
July 13, 2020
Superbly written. Makes some complex ideas very accessible.
June 9, 2014
Muy interesante primera parte. Flojo el resto.
July 23, 2015
Good book
This book help me understand the world around me understand myself. I hope this book will inspire others to happiness.
This book help me understand the world around me understand myself. I hope this book will inspire others to happiness.
December 10, 2025
Una cruel pero justa perspectiva de nuestro tiempo, la AI vino para quedarse y un poco más.
April 29, 2017
First half awesome and well worth your time. Second half..: is not. Weird review, but there it is.
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