Three Books Consider What Happens When the Robots Take Over

However, it never scratches far beneath the surface, or tries to answer the many questions it raises. That makes "The Future of Work" a quick read but ultimately leaves the reader wanting, like a computer with too little data to draw any conclusions. The second section of the book, for example, addresses the need for enormous societal change, including a shift to lifetime learning, a need for a new social contract and new definitions of work. These are laudable goals, but how do we achieve them? The notion of a universal basic income (in which everyone receives enough money to live) gets mentioned and defined. But the huge cost and attendant challenges are barely addressed.