Futureproof

This morning I listened to a podcast interview with Kevin Roose, New York Times tech reporter, about his new book Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation.

With algorithms, bots, and AI transforming the world we live and work in, Roose’s aim is to answer the question “What can I do to prepare for the inevitable?"

His approach is comprehensive, covering several wide areas - personal, work, and community life (including family).

What makes Roose's reporting interesting are the connections and conclusions he makes more than the information itself, much of which is familiar.

For example, anyone who has touched an automation project at work will have probably thought about job replacement. Bots doing rote, repetitive tasks to free people up to do higher-order work. Or make them jobless.

Until now, much of what I’ve seen/heard on this topic has to do with which jobs Labor Department economists project will be gone in 10 years. Spreadsheet workers? No tenure there.

But Roose expands on that line of thinking, pushing off of it, noting that all jobs are being impacted. And have been for longer than any of us can remember.

In his view it is how one does the human part of their work, regardless of role or industry, that determines any individual’s contribution and staying power.

A favorite new Roose-ism describing this is is “leaving hand prints” on one’s work as a way of reminding oneself, and others, of its intrinsic value.

Although there are “nine rules” in the book, it seems there are countless useful decisions that can be made from them.

Although Roose is a technology writer, this book is not only for technologists.

It appeals to machine-age humanists like me, reassuring us that we have an important role to play in how the current drift toward automation will shape the world we all share.

If you are thinking of buying a copy of Futureproof please use my Amazon Associates store link here.