Unlike many of the books that I have read recently around the subject of AI, this book is very current.  Copywrite 2024.  It's forecast horizon is very precise, looking for how the world will be changing over the next 25 years.   The aspects of life that are examined are very broad.  You can see this from the front cover.  I do feel that much of what is described as AI would have been called machine learning a couple of years ago and other bits simply automation.  Not only is something truly different pervading our lives and thinking, much of what was already there is being reclassified as AI.  All that having been said there are some pieces of what Patrick Dixon observes and forecasts are worth underlining here. He starts off with some gloomy forecasts and the probability of control mechanisms failing.  He then does check himself in noting that if he had been in a coma for 20 years, he would still recognize and be able to function in the world.  Things don't change that much.  

He seems generally positive about the world of work.  He does call out the accounting and legal professions as likely to be dramatically changed.  Special mention was made of the length of time it takes to implement ERP systems.

In the area of healthcare, he examines what interacting with a brain implant will feel like.  The fact that he thinks it will feel like “intuition” I find both quite natural and immensely creepy at the same time. 

In the area of education I read many things in Mr Dixon’s work that echoed what I was hearing from Mr Carrington on our piece on AI in the classroom. Encouraging positive character traits,  rather than just teaching facts.  I also saw Mr Dixon emphasize teaching on how to determine truth, both for school age and adults.

I was interested to read Mr Dixon’s view of manufacturing and supply chain.  Much that was discussed seemed very much what we have been creating for a while.  It always stuns me to find out how little of the capabilities of these systems are used by companies, so the deployment of what already exists seems a more certain path to progress. 

I really liked the fact that he made some recommendations for different constituencies at the end of the book.  In the 12 steps format that Jourdan Peterson made famous recently, Mr Dixon has advice for governments, companies and individuals.  He ends the book by telling a story of the loss of control of an AI, although it is much more the prologue of what I presume will be Mr Dixon’s next book.