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Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era
From Amazon's Alexa to Japan's robot chefs, technology is becoming increasingly saturated into our everyday lives. Previous technological revolutions have come and gone but this one is different. For the first time in economic history productivity and employment are diverging, suggesting that humans are contributing less to economic growth. Businesses are now turning to robotics and artificial intelligence to pick up the slack where humans are failing. As they become faster, smarter and cheaper, humans will continually struggle to compete. For many, this will lead to redundancy and hardship. But with great change comes great opportunity. Where many will fall victim to the rise of the robots, others will flourish in an era of rapid innovation. Whole swaths of industries will be created as technology opens the doors to boundless opportunities. Whether you sink or swim depends on how able you are to adopt this new technology. There is only one thing that separates a successful you from a redundant you. KNOWLEDGE! This book overviews some of the most disruptive upcoming technologies and provides the foundation of knowledge for you to be able to leverage new tech to your advantage. Technologies Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it will rapidly saturate business, the workplace and the home. How it is technically possible for AI to become more intelligent than humans and the consequences this technological singularity would reap on humanity. The future of the internet, Big Data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT) and how they will transform the nature of business. Autonomous vehicles and how you will soon be ditching your vehicle in favour of hailing a driverless vehicle through a simple phone app. We will ever be able to ditch our over-reliance on filthy fossil fuels? Who will emerge victorious in the fight between renewables and nuclear? The possibilities of genetic and bionic modifications and how we may soon be able to order genes like food on a menu. What are the consequences of man playing God and taking us beyond our natural limits? The future of the welfare state and how schemes such as Universal Basic Income and Negative Income Tax may be the only way to keep money flowing in an era of mass automation. And finally where you fit into all this. We look at the future of employment and the workplace to see who will be the real winners and losers in the next tech revolution. Technology moves fast so you must act faster. Join your fellow readers, scroll up and click the buy button to learn how to best prepare for the new digital era.
158 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2018
16 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
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February 25, 2020
Summary
Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era by Jason Strong is a book that covers different realms of current and emerging technologies and their influence on economics. The fields of technology that were covered in this book included artificial intelligence (A.I.), data and the internet, transportation, energy, genomics and gene modification, bionics, and employment.
The first topic Strong (2018) covers was Artificial Intelligence. A.I. is becoming more and more advanced, which can help support innovation. Strong explains that A.I. will be taking over more systematic, repetitive, data-intensive jobs. This does not mean that humans should be afraid of A.I. taking over their jobs; however, it does mean that the job markets will change. For example, he mentions that people will most likely be getting jobs in the managing and interpreting departments to support A.I. integrations. He ends this chapter by stating, “As long as we embrace A.I. safely and responsibly, it may be capable of pushing man through their natural limits of science and opening a whole other world we may have otherwise never realized” (Strong, Chapter 2, Section 6, para. 5). This is a common theme he revisits throughout the rest of the book.
Next, Strong (2018) references IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud computing. Through smartphones and wearable technology, we can access a network of connected platforms in the form of smart homes and smartwatches that help monitor health. He predicts that, as time goes on, this will become increasingly more embedded within our lives. Although this technology is fantastic and makes our lives easier, Strong (2018) warns of the harm that can come with this sort of system, such as security threats and whether or not there are connection failures that prevent access to equipment.
Strong (2018) then goes on to mention autonomous vehicles, such as smart cars and transportation. He explains that there are many benefits to this type of travel. Examples include less congested roads (especially with ride-sharing options), cheaper travel costs, safer roads (due to less human error), faster journey times (due to less traffic and accidents), and cleaner cities with less pollution (Strong, 2018). One of the key points that he makes that I found interesting was the human error that may always be present in relation to autonomous vehicles. For example, Strong (2018) says, ”The mix of human and A.V. vehicles, however, will be difficult and despite the thousands of deaths occurring due to human drivers each year, every single autonomous vehicle-related death will draw much attention and criticism, unfairly stifling progress” (Chapter 4, Section 5, para 2). He further mentions that these safety concerns will be one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome in programming autonomous vehicles. The A.I. within these vehicles must be programmed to prevent accidents from happening, especially since these autonomous vehicles will need to take the actions of human pedestrians and drivers into account. Unless these safety concerns are met, people will be more cautious to adapt to an autonomous future.
Another topic Strong (2018) discusses in this book is energy. He says, “Energy is what drives economic growth and is frequently referred to as the ‘oxygen of the economy’” (Chapter 5, para 3). I really enjoyed this chapter because it taught me a lot about nonrenewable vs. renewable energy sources. He also taught me about the strengths and weaknesses of each type. For example, solar power is a great way to store energy; however, it takes a lot of energy to create the lithium batteries required to save energy.
An idea I found interesting in this chapter was when he was talking about possible energy solutions for our future. Strong (2018) said, “A second option would be to utilise a large interconnected transmission network to exploit geographical areas which produce a consistent and larger amount of energy and distribute this excess energy across different regions. This smoothing effect would reduce the need to overscale the energy capacity by such a large margin by exploiting more reliable weather patterns from consistent geographies” (Chapter 5, section 2, para. 11). It makes sense to utilize geographic weather patterns to create energy; however, I never thought about it from an economic point of view.
Furthermore, extending upon the economics and politics behind energy, he talked about nuclear power and Russia and China’s role in designing and exporting nuclear energy. Even though nuclear energy is more powerful and cost-efficient, there is still more to learn about how to safely store energy. Nuclear energy is so radioactive that it takes 24,000 years for the half of the harmful molecules to decay if a leak occurs (Strong, 2018); therefore, we need to be extra cautious in this field of power. No matter which field we explore, Strong (2018) suggests that we be proactive in finding solutions that meet the substantial energy needs of our times, to prevent further rolling blackouts and energy crises.
One of the final topics Strong (2018) explores is about altering the human body using genomics, gene modification, and bionics. He mentions a technique, known as CRISPR, which allows scientists to edit genetics. Strong (2018) predicts that human modifications (through utilizing CRISPR, bionics, and brain chips) will become more prevalent and, possibly, more controversial since those with the most money may have the most benefits to being able to utilize this type of technology.
Finally, one of my favorite chapters of this book were the final chapters on employment and emerging technologies. It really helped my understanding of how people can prepare ourselves and our youth for a technological future. Perhaps one of my favorite quotes from these chapters is, “...fighting and resisting the inevitable change in technology is a losing battle and will bring nothing but pain and misery. You can prolong it as long as possible but this will only prove to delay the inevitable whilst also prolonging the pain. Fortunately, the opportunities are so plentiful you don’t need to. Those who learn to work with the flow of momentum will be better placed to leverage it to their benefit. By embracing and learning from the change, you will be much better placed to grasp its opportunities” (Strong, 2018, Chapter 9, para. 8). This idea of resistance verse acceptance is a theme throughout the book. It is something I will continue to reflect on as new technology occurs over my lifetime, should I feel resistant to something at first.
Critique
Strong’s (2018) purpose of this text was to explain some of the most disruptive technologies of our time and their influence on current society. Strong (2018) also mentions that he wanted to share how these innovations will affect the future of society and the economy; that way, people are better prepared and ready to advance into the future.
I really enjoyed reading this book about future technologies. I was initially listening to the book on Audible. As the explanations of the technologies got more complex, though, I found that I needed to read the book using the immersion reading features of the Kindle (where it read to me as I followed along with the words). I had little to no knowledge about many of the concepts, especially when it came to nuclear energy, genomics, and gene modification. Following along with the text definitely helped because I was able to make notes about quotes I found exciting or read back what was said. Thankfully, all of these concepts were presented in a way I could understand; it just required a lot of focus and rereading. Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. The information shared within this book was extremely useful and I learned a lot about current and emerging technologies that influence our society.
Author’s Qualifications
Jason Strong is the author of not only Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era, but also the book, The 2010s. According to his author profile on Amazon, he has a Masters Degree. He has a background in different fields within the automotive and construction industries (two industries that are technology-driven). The website also explains that he has “seen (and led) the drive to automate construction plant, create A.I. systems that automate the quality control process, and seen how technology can allow one employee to do what it took three to do previously” (Strong, n.d.). Unfortunately, there aren’t any other places I can fact check Strong’s qualifications, such as an author’s website, articles about the author, or his work history. As of right now, the only information available on Jason Strong is on Amazon’s author section.
References
Strong, Jason. Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era. Kindle, Joshua Spong, 2018, https://www.amazon.com/Future-You-Ess... You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digitalhttps://www.amazon.com/Future-You-Ess... You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era&qid=1579548329&sr=8-1 Era&qid=1579548329&sr=8-1.
Strong, J. (n.d.). About Jason Strong. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from
https://us.amazon.com/Jason-Strong/e/...
Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era by Jason Strong is a book that covers different realms of current and emerging technologies and their influence on economics. The fields of technology that were covered in this book included artificial intelligence (A.I.), data and the internet, transportation, energy, genomics and gene modification, bionics, and employment.
The first topic Strong (2018) covers was Artificial Intelligence. A.I. is becoming more and more advanced, which can help support innovation. Strong explains that A.I. will be taking over more systematic, repetitive, data-intensive jobs. This does not mean that humans should be afraid of A.I. taking over their jobs; however, it does mean that the job markets will change. For example, he mentions that people will most likely be getting jobs in the managing and interpreting departments to support A.I. integrations. He ends this chapter by stating, “As long as we embrace A.I. safely and responsibly, it may be capable of pushing man through their natural limits of science and opening a whole other world we may have otherwise never realized” (Strong, Chapter 2, Section 6, para. 5). This is a common theme he revisits throughout the rest of the book.
Next, Strong (2018) references IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud computing. Through smartphones and wearable technology, we can access a network of connected platforms in the form of smart homes and smartwatches that help monitor health. He predicts that, as time goes on, this will become increasingly more embedded within our lives. Although this technology is fantastic and makes our lives easier, Strong (2018) warns of the harm that can come with this sort of system, such as security threats and whether or not there are connection failures that prevent access to equipment.
Strong (2018) then goes on to mention autonomous vehicles, such as smart cars and transportation. He explains that there are many benefits to this type of travel. Examples include less congested roads (especially with ride-sharing options), cheaper travel costs, safer roads (due to less human error), faster journey times (due to less traffic and accidents), and cleaner cities with less pollution (Strong, 2018). One of the key points that he makes that I found interesting was the human error that may always be present in relation to autonomous vehicles. For example, Strong (2018) says, ”The mix of human and A.V. vehicles, however, will be difficult and despite the thousands of deaths occurring due to human drivers each year, every single autonomous vehicle-related death will draw much attention and criticism, unfairly stifling progress” (Chapter 4, Section 5, para 2). He further mentions that these safety concerns will be one of the biggest hurdles we must overcome in programming autonomous vehicles. The A.I. within these vehicles must be programmed to prevent accidents from happening, especially since these autonomous vehicles will need to take the actions of human pedestrians and drivers into account. Unless these safety concerns are met, people will be more cautious to adapt to an autonomous future.
Another topic Strong (2018) discusses in this book is energy. He says, “Energy is what drives economic growth and is frequently referred to as the ‘oxygen of the economy’” (Chapter 5, para 3). I really enjoyed this chapter because it taught me a lot about nonrenewable vs. renewable energy sources. He also taught me about the strengths and weaknesses of each type. For example, solar power is a great way to store energy; however, it takes a lot of energy to create the lithium batteries required to save energy.
An idea I found interesting in this chapter was when he was talking about possible energy solutions for our future. Strong (2018) said, “A second option would be to utilise a large interconnected transmission network to exploit geographical areas which produce a consistent and larger amount of energy and distribute this excess energy across different regions. This smoothing effect would reduce the need to overscale the energy capacity by such a large margin by exploiting more reliable weather patterns from consistent geographies” (Chapter 5, section 2, para. 11). It makes sense to utilize geographic weather patterns to create energy; however, I never thought about it from an economic point of view.
Furthermore, extending upon the economics and politics behind energy, he talked about nuclear power and Russia and China’s role in designing and exporting nuclear energy. Even though nuclear energy is more powerful and cost-efficient, there is still more to learn about how to safely store energy. Nuclear energy is so radioactive that it takes 24,000 years for the half of the harmful molecules to decay if a leak occurs (Strong, 2018); therefore, we need to be extra cautious in this field of power. No matter which field we explore, Strong (2018) suggests that we be proactive in finding solutions that meet the substantial energy needs of our times, to prevent further rolling blackouts and energy crises.
One of the final topics Strong (2018) explores is about altering the human body using genomics, gene modification, and bionics. He mentions a technique, known as CRISPR, which allows scientists to edit genetics. Strong (2018) predicts that human modifications (through utilizing CRISPR, bionics, and brain chips) will become more prevalent and, possibly, more controversial since those with the most money may have the most benefits to being able to utilize this type of technology.
Finally, one of my favorite chapters of this book were the final chapters on employment and emerging technologies. It really helped my understanding of how people can prepare ourselves and our youth for a technological future. Perhaps one of my favorite quotes from these chapters is, “...fighting and resisting the inevitable change in technology is a losing battle and will bring nothing but pain and misery. You can prolong it as long as possible but this will only prove to delay the inevitable whilst also prolonging the pain. Fortunately, the opportunities are so plentiful you don’t need to. Those who learn to work with the flow of momentum will be better placed to leverage it to their benefit. By embracing and learning from the change, you will be much better placed to grasp its opportunities” (Strong, 2018, Chapter 9, para. 8). This idea of resistance verse acceptance is a theme throughout the book. It is something I will continue to reflect on as new technology occurs over my lifetime, should I feel resistant to something at first.
Critique
Strong’s (2018) purpose of this text was to explain some of the most disruptive technologies of our time and their influence on current society. Strong (2018) also mentions that he wanted to share how these innovations will affect the future of society and the economy; that way, people are better prepared and ready to advance into the future.
I really enjoyed reading this book about future technologies. I was initially listening to the book on Audible. As the explanations of the technologies got more complex, though, I found that I needed to read the book using the immersion reading features of the Kindle (where it read to me as I followed along with the words). I had little to no knowledge about many of the concepts, especially when it came to nuclear energy, genomics, and gene modification. Following along with the text definitely helped because I was able to make notes about quotes I found exciting or read back what was said. Thankfully, all of these concepts were presented in a way I could understand; it just required a lot of focus and rereading. Overall, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. The information shared within this book was extremely useful and I learned a lot about current and emerging technologies that influence our society.
Author’s Qualifications
Jason Strong is the author of not only Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era, but also the book, The 2010s. According to his author profile on Amazon, he has a Masters Degree. He has a background in different fields within the automotive and construction industries (two industries that are technology-driven). The website also explains that he has “seen (and led) the drive to automate construction plant, create A.I. systems that automate the quality control process, and seen how technology can allow one employee to do what it took three to do previously” (Strong, n.d.). Unfortunately, there aren’t any other places I can fact check Strong’s qualifications, such as an author’s website, articles about the author, or his work history. As of right now, the only information available on Jason Strong is on Amazon’s author section.
References
Strong, Jason. Future You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era. Kindle, Joshua Spong, 2018, https://www.amazon.com/Future-You-Ess... You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digitalhttps://www.amazon.com/Future-You-Ess... You: Essential Future Technologies You Need To Know To Survive The Digital Era&qid=1579548329&sr=8-1 Era&qid=1579548329&sr=8-1.
Strong, J. (n.d.). About Jason Strong. Retrieved February 22, 2020, from
https://us.amazon.com/Jason-Strong/e/...
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