Martin Ford

How Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Everything: Rule of the Robots

In his New York Times bestseller Rise of the Robots, Martin Ford presented a thoughtful and deeply researched argument: robots are poised to take over many of the jobs that humans do. Now, six years later, in his follow-up Rule of the Robots, Ford updates his arguments—specifically, on the potential of artificial intelligence to transform the world around us.

AI, in Ford’s assessment, is on the cusp of becoming a general-purpose technology. The impact of AI will be as profound as that of electricity before it, fundamentally changing how every other technology is produced and consumed, while also helping us solve some of our most pressing issues, from the climate crisis to the next pandemic. Yet for all its promise, AI still has the potential to cause serious harm. Avoiding the overzealous enthusiasm and proselyting displayed by some tech leaders, Ford instead offers audiences a practical, clear-headed guide into AI as it currently stands, as well as its future evolution(s).

This nuanced, balanced talk explores both the harms and benefits of the technology, but ultimately remains optimistic: revealing how we can embrace artificial intelligence in the twenty-first century with caution and pragmatism.

What Investors, Managers, and Everyone Else Need to Know: The Coming Disruption

We are on the leading edge of a massive disruption brought on by the relentless advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, says futurist Martin Ford. In this talk, Ford offers a lucid and compelling overview of the key technologies underlying this revolution, and what it could mean for the future. How did AI advance so quickly, from the realm of science fiction, to today’s reality? What opportunities does this new technology offer investors? How will it impact the job market and economy? And what are the potential security risks? Ford compares the threats and opportunities that super-intelligent machines bring us, and how we can best prepare for them.

Do Robots Want Your Job? Disruptive Technology

Martin Ford explores the ways in which AI and automation (aka, “robots”) are outpacing humans in a range of sectors, from education to law, agriculture to healthcare, management and beyond. He offers a realistic view of what the future of work—and your place in it—will look like. Beyond pragmatic concerns, Ford addresses a bigger question: can accelerating technology disrupt our entire economic system to the point where a fundamental restructuring is required?

This next industrial revolution, Ford argues, will not be like the last one. In the past, even as jobs were eliminated, jobs were created to replace them. Increasingly, new machines will be able to take care of themselves, making fewer jobs necessary. Will basic, guaranteed income be implemented? How will education reflect our changing society? We are at an inflection point: Do we continue to listen to those who argue that nothing fundamental has changed, and take a bad bet on a miserable future? Or do we begin to discuss what we must do to ensure all of us, and not just the few, benefit from the awesome power of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other breakthroughs? This exciting talk is both an exploration of this new technology and a call to arms to address its implications.