Machine, Platform, Crowd

How do we build a future that doesn’t leave humans behind? How do we need to respond – as individuals, communities, companies, institutions – to harness technological progress the benefit of the many, not just the few?

Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee's bestselling 2014 book The Second Machine Age had widespread influence on the global debate around how technological progress is transforming the way we live and work.

Their new book Machine, Platform, Crowd focuses on the ‘second phase’ of the Second Machine Age. This phase, they argue, has a greater sense of urgency, as ‘deep learning’ technologies are now demonstrating that they can do much more than just the type of work we have thought of as routine. So can we now replace fears that automation will erase jobs with hopes that advanced AI will actually improve rather than displace human work?

Elsewhere, how do we ensure increasingly powerful platforms, such as Google, Facebook and Amazon, have a positive impact on the way we live our lives? And how can we harness the rise of crowd-based innovation to shape a better future for all?

Join Erik Brynjolfsson at the RSA for an essential guide to the new digital economy, and how to thrive in it.