Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane

Description

The Internet and smartphone are just the latest in a 250 year long cycle of disruption that has continuously changed the way we live, the way we work and the way we interact. The coming Augmented Age, however, promises a level of disruption, behavioral shifts and changes that are unparalleled. While consumers today are camping outside of an Apple store waiting to be one of the first to score a new Apple Watch or iPhone, the next generation of wearables will be able to predict if we're likely to have a heart attack and recommend a course of action. We watch news of Google's self-driving cars, but don't likely realize this means progressive cities will have to ban human drives in the next decade because us humans are too risky. Following on from the Industrial or Machine Age, the Space Age and the Digital Age, the Augmented Age will be based on four key disruptive themes - Artificial Intelligence, Experience Design, Smart Infrastructure, and Health Tech. Historically the previous 'ages' brought significant disruption and changes, but on a net basis jobs were created, wealth was enhanced, and the health and security of society improved. What will the Augmented Age bring? Will robots take our jobs, and AI's subsume us as inferior intelligences, or will this usher in a new age of abundance? Augmented is a book on future history, but more than that, it is a story about how you will live your life in a world that will change more in the next 20 years than it has in the last 250 years. Are you ready to adapt? Because if history proves anything, you don't have much of a choice.

BrettKing is the author of the bestselling books Bank 3.0 (2013), BranchToday, Gone Tomorrow (2011) and Bank2.0 (2010). He is founder of the world's first mobile direct bank Movenbank,and advises the world's biggest banks on innovation, customer experience anddistribution strategy..

"We are in the midst of a huge wave of technological change. Augmented Reality. Self-driving cars. Human-like robots. Additive manufacturing and much more are bringing deep cultural change and exposing long-fed fears of a dystopian future. Brett King not just properly catalogs all of these, but tells us what it all means: that we soon will be AUGMENTED. His look at what's happening will be my bible for a long time." - Robert Scoble, Bestselling Author of Age of Context and Beyond Mobile "Welcome to the AUGMENTED AGE. Super powers. Super cities. Super vehicles. Super robots. Technology is about to change everything in your life. Whether you're scared, excited, or both, you need to read this awesome roadmap of the future that Brett King has created. Those who can anticipate the future can thrive in it." - Ramez Naam, Author of Nexus "When someone as obsessed and thoughtful about the future as Brett King gets ahold of a keyboard and sufficient time to to think and write-watch you, world. Here comes a book that will broaden your mind and make you reexamine what you think you know about tomorrow." David Wolman, Author of The End of Money, Contributing Editor at Wired "You may think you've heard all there is to know about the dramatic changes to come in our digital future. Well, prepare to have your mind blown... again. In a crowded field of prognosticators, Brett King stands out for his clearly articulated vision of how technology is changing who we are." - Michael J. Casey, Author of The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money are Challenging the Global Economic Order. "We live in a world where software is getting smart enough to automate things that only people could do just a few years ago. This is going to radically change the way we educate our children, and the way people work ni the future. AUGMENTED is a wake up call for a whole swathe of industries including the accounting profession. If your job can be automated, it probably will." - Rod Drury, CEO of Xero "Whole industries have been vaporized by technological progress, but as Brett King show us, this trend is just getting started. AUGMENTED is your guide to a world in chaos, where each wave of technological innovation collides with several others. Get ready, get smart, read this book." - Robert Tercek, Author of Vaporized "If you want real financial security and the ability to fund your dreams in the future, then you need to see what is coming next. Brett King's Augmented is a roadmap of the biggest changes and the most disruptive technologies we'll need to navigate to get there." - David Bach, New York Times Bestselling Author "As one of the world's most followed and provocative voices in digital finance, Brett King has once again thrown down the gauntlet. Brett's vision of the future should be required reading for governments, think tanks, investors, or basically anyone wondering how transformational technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, Bitcoin, and gene-editing may impact our society." - Seth Wheeler, Former White House Advisor on Financial Services and Brookings Institution Guest Scholar