{"product_id":"the-technology-trap-by-carl-benedikt-frey-9780691172798","title":"The Technology Trap","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHow the history of technological revolutions can help us better understand economic and political polarisation in the age of automation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Industrial Revolution to the age of artificial intelligence, \u003cem\u003eThe Technology Trap\u003c\/em\u003e takes a sweeping look at the history of technological progress and how it has radically shifted the distribution of economic and political power among society's members.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs Carl Benedikt Frey shows, the Industrial Revolution created unprecedented wealth and prosperity over the long run, but the immediate consequences of mechanisation were devastating for large swathes of the population. Middle-income jobs withered, wages stagnated, the labour share of income fell, profits surged, and economic inequality skyrocketed. These trends, Frey documents, broadly mirror those in our current age of automation, which began with the Computer Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJust as the Industrial Revolution eventually brought about extraordinary benefits for society, artificial intelligence systems have the potential to do the same. But Frey argues that this depends on how the short term is managed. In the nineteenth century, workers violently expressed their concerns over machines taking their jobs. The Luddite uprisings joined a long wave of machinery riots that swept across Europe and China. Today's despairing middle class has not resorted to physical force, but their frustration has led to rising populism and the increasing fragmentation of society. As middle-class jobs continue to come under pressure, there's no assurance that positive attitudes to technology will persist.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Industrial Revolution was a defining moment in history, but few grasped its enormous consequences at the time. \u003cem\u003eThe Technology Trap\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrates that in the midst of another technological revolution, the lessons of the past can help us to more effectively face the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47461650890988,"sku":"9780691172798","price":94.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780691172798-the-technology-trap.jpg?v=1774974257","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/the-technology-trap-by-carl-benedikt-frey-9780691172798","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}