Exponential
How humans can learn to thrive in an age of accelerating technology.
'Enticing' Sunday Times
'Essential' Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn
'Powerful' Hannah Fry, author of Hello World
'Brilliant' Robert Peston, ITV Political Editor and author of WTF
We are entering the Exponential Age. Between faster computers, better software and bigger data, ours is the first era in human history in which technology is constantly accelerating.
Azeem Azhar - writer, technologist, and creator of the acclaimed Exponential View newsletter - understands this shift better than anyone. Technology, he argues, is developing at an increasing, exponential rate. But human society - from our businesses to our political institutions - can only ever adapt at a slower, incremental pace. The result is an 'exponential gap', between the power of new technology and our ability to keep up.
In Exponential, Azhar shows how this exponential gap can explain our society's most pressing problems - from established businesses' difficulty keeping up with digital platforms, to the sclerotic response of liberal democracies to fast-moving social problems. And he draws on cutting-edge social science to explain how to stop the exponential gap eroding our economies, our politics and our lives.
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'Valuable and timely . . . The importance of the book lies in its diligent and comprehensive definition of a new phase in human affairs.' Sunday Times
'Comprehensive but lively . . . An essential addition to the ongoing discourse about where remarkable new technologies can take us, and where we should be aiming to go. Highly recommended!' Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and author of Blitzscaling
'Read this book if you are interested in how we can design a more inclusive and sustainable system with a re-direction of technological change at its centre.' Mariana Mazzucato, UCL professor and author of The Value of Everything and Mission Economy
'A powerful argument . . . Azeem Azhar's writing is informative and accessible, and his prescient ideas are only going to become more important as time goes on.' Hannah Fry, BBC Radio 4 presenter and author of Hello World
'Azeem Azhar is one of the best-regarded thought leaders in the industry . . . He has a broad understanding of the ways technology can be used to solve our biggest problems, shape our society, and bridge cultural divides.' Daniel Ek, co-founder and CEO of Spotify
'Azeem Azhar is a globally recognised voice on technology and its impact. He has written a fascinating and important book, required reading for anyone seeking to understand the new economy and the massive global corporations that seek to dominate that economy.' Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, Royal Society of Arts
