Overview

The Second Machine Age was written by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee and is revolved around "work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies." Brynjolfsson and McAfee argue that the world we live in is changing at a drastic pace technologically, and that in order to succeed in this new age, we need to identify and adapt to a new path so that we are prepared for what they call "The Second Machine Age". Bryjolfsson and McAfee reveal the forces driving the reinvention of our lives and our economy. They believe that as the full impact of digital technologies is felt, we will realize immense bounty in the form of mesmerizing personal technology, advanced infrastructure, and near-boundless access to the cultural items that enrich our lives. But with this bounty, comes change and this new age will affect our lives greatly, which I believe is something that is inevitable. Professions from all areas whether it be doctors or plumbers, will be forced to "transform or die" and recent economic indicators are proving this true: fewer people are working, and wages are falling even though productivity and profits are soaring. Throughout this book, the authors try to identify as to what they believe are the best strategies for survival and offer the paths that people should follow if they want to prosper. Ultimately, this book will reshape the ways we think about issues of technological, societal, and economic progress.

The last couple decades have been a time of prosperity and change; from the development of computers, to cell phones, to cars that drive themselves, technological advancement has been on a constant rise. It is true, that we have seen monumental shifts recently, but this isn't the first time life has been apart of a machine age. Exponential human progress (driven mainly by technological innovation) can be seen throughout history, one time in particular is The Industrial Revolution. The industrial Revolution ushered in humanity's first machine age, steam power, which essentially could be compared to the computer of today's day and age, started it all. It allowed people to overcome the limitations of muscle power, human and animal, and generated massive amounts of energy for us to use at will. In turn this led to factories and mass production, to railways and transportation, it led in other words, to an improvement of everyday life. The Industrial Revolution was the most profound time of transformation that our world has ever seen. And now comes the second machine age.

After doing extensive research on The Industrial Revolution and where we are now, the authors have come to some assumptions on what they believe will be results of the second machine age. One assumption is that astonishing progress with digital technologies will continue to happen. They believe that just as the steam engine took generations to improve, we are in the midst of that with computers, and that they will continue to improve and do new and unprecedented things. The authors add on this assumption in that transformations brought about by digital technology will be profoundly beneficial ones. and that the era we're heading into will be better because we'll be able to increase both the variety and the volume of our consumption. This means that more and more information will be available and ready to consume, people will become smarter, and new ideas will be created that will continue to expand the second machine age. Essentially, technology will bring us more choice and freedom. Their final assumption is a less optimistic one, and it is that digitization is going to bring with it some challenges. However, with anything that has potential rewards, there is generally a cost involved, so this isn't a surprise. The Industrial Revolution had costs such as soot-filled skies, and severe exploitation of child labor. The authors predict that rapid and accelerating digitization is most likely going to bring economic disruption, stemming from the fact that as computers become more powerful, the need for actual human works becomes less and less. This is a similar concept to the idea of automation. In Thomas Sugrue's, "The Damning Mark of False Prosperities": The Deindustrialization of Detroit, automation is seen as the force that re-structured Detroit's economy after World War II, specifically in the automobile, auto parts, and machine tool industries. Automation was first experimented with in the wake of the General Motors strike of 1946, and was adopted by Ford in 1947, which even set up a department dedicated to it. People may wonder why valuable jobs would be taken away from people and instead, be done by machines. However, the answer from a producers perspective is simple: automation increased output while also reducing labor costs. Machines were simply more efficient than humans at certain tasks. With technological progress, as seen in the past, some people, perhaps even a lot of people, are going to get left behind. In today's day and age, there's never been a better time to be a worker with special skills or a good education, and there's never been a worse time to be a worker with only "ordinary" skills to offer, because computers, robots, and other digital technologies are acquiring these same ordinary skills at an alarming rate, and are just as efficient, if not better than humans at them.

To describe their first assumption, the authors look at the characteristics of the second machine age; what started this, what is currently happening, and where they believe technological progress will lead us. Nearly 50 years ago, the idea of the second machine age was presented in article for Electronics magazine by a man named Gordon Moore. Moore predicted that "Integrated circuits will lead to such wonders as home computers- or at least terminals connected to a central computer-automatic controls for automobiles, and personal portable communications equipment." Although this forecast was true, his most famous prediction was what is known as "Moore's Law." Moore's Law states that "computer chips will double their speed and power every eighteen to twenty-four months"(Pellow and Park). This law has proved to be true and then some, especially in today's day and age. Chapters 4 and 6 of The second machine age, add on to their belief that techdnological progression is currently underway. The authors emphasize the term "digitization"- essentially making everything available online, from documents to news, music to maps, photos, to social networks, digitization is seen as one of the recent phenomena of our age. It's simply amazing that nearly anything you need, whether it be a recipe or a the quickest route to the nearest gas station, you can just go online and have your answer within seconds. Chapter 6 adds on to the idea of digitization by discussing artificial intelligence. The authors argue that recent technological progression, although amazing, aren't even the crowning achievements of the second machine age, but just the warm up acts ( examples: digitization, automation, self driving cars, smart-phones). They argue that we haven't even come close to reaching our potential, artificial intelligence will continue to expand, and billions of innovators are ready to to address challenges that arise, and improve the quality of life overall.

It is marvelous to look at all the progression that has been made recently, the list could go on and on regarding achievements we've made or ideas that will maybe take form in the future, but of course, with all this achievement, there are the inevitable consequences that are associated with them. This brings on the authors final assumption that consequences are going to arise with digitization. The terms he uses to describe these consequences are coined the "bounty" and "spread" of the second machine age. The bounty refers to the range of profits and essentially, reward, that is available in the second machine age. New technologies are making life easier while also making those who produce them, very rich. New technologies are demanding new ways of working, sure some people may be better off if you have the right education( such as programming, or medical) but for a lot of other people, the potential of being worse off is high. With the addition of automation, it's no telling what will happen. This leads to the "spread" aspect of the consequences described by the authors. The authors describe the spread as the "large and growing differences among people in income, wealth, and other important circumstances of life." Just because technological innovations are producing enormous wealth, does not mean that it will benefit the majority of people. In the past couple years alone, median income has been declining, while the top 1% of people are seeing rises in income. The more capital one has, the better off they are. With more technologies taking over human jobs, the potential for income inequality to increase is a very possible consequence.

Although I agree with the authors argument that we are in a second machine age, I believe another consequence or counter-argument that could have been discussed is the impact technology will have on our personal lives. In "No Child Left Untableted" by Carlo Rotella, she makes a valid point about a term called "the crisis in the ability to talk". She is describing an example of a classroom and how some teachers are complaining that their students are so fixed on technology that it actually takes away from human interaction and talking to eachother. Sherry Turkle, an M.I.T professor also adds to this idea and in her book Alone Together says that we expect more out of technology then we do out of each other. So although Brynjolfsson and McAfee do pose valid arguments, I think this argument is also an important part of what a potential consequence could be of the second machine age and it is something that could be seen as the biggest consequence rather than ones that are solely economic.

The authors argument that the second machine age is coming and will benefit society has a lot of valid points and evidence that we are, indeed, in a second machine age. I had my doubts at first, but this book really makes you take a look at what's going on around you, and that we are going to need to adapt in order to succeed in this new age. The authors believe we should re-vamp education so we are prepared for the new age, design new collaborations that pair brute processing power with human ingenuity, and embrace policies that make sense in a radically transformed landscape. It's simply hard not to agree with the authors after reading this book.