Exponential: How to Bridge the Gap Between Technology and Society
Writer and technologist Azeem Azhar’s first book Exponential: How to Bridge the Gap Between Technology and Society explores the notion that we are living through a transition from the Industrial Age to the Exponential Age, driven by a wave of transformative, exponential technologies.
Readers of Azhar’s weekly email Exponential View will have discovered the breadth and depth of his interests and analysis over 320 issues.
The ‘exponential gap’ he posits is the gap between the power of new technology and humans’ and their institutions’ ability to keep up. It helps explain the gulf between established businesses and fast-growing digital platforms, the inability of nation states to deal with new forms of cyberwarfare, and the sclerotic response of liberal democracies to fast-moving social problems.
But this gap does not need to grow and exacerbate further tensions. Drawing on fields as varied as economics, political science and psychology, Azhar sketches out how we can harness the power of tech to serve our real needs – fostering new ways of doing business, innovative forms of politics, and fresh approaches to national defence.
“Azeem Azhar is one of the best-regarded thought leaders in the industry. But more importantly, he has a broad understanding of the exponential ways technology can be used to solve our biggest problems, shape our society, and bridge cultural divides.”
Daniel Ek, founder and CEO of Spotify
