The Industry of the Future

Alec Ross was Hillary Clinton's advisor in charge of technology and innovation. I had the chance to meet him a few years ago during one of his visits to Paris and I could then perceive how fascinating the character was, as are often those who are at the frontier of major geostrategic issues and innovation.

In this respect, this book is a good reflection of this first perception. It reads like a thriller and takes us all over the planet to meet what Alec rightly calls "the data revolution". His thesis is that we are living through a revolution that is not very visible -because the information is by definition virtualized- and almost impalpable, but of unequalled power and that should restructure the whole functioning of our world: the sovereignty of States, social organization and models of wealth creation...

Strictly speaking, the book does not only deal with artificial intelligence, but it refers to it widely and tells its story with great talent. Above all, it shows that artificial intelligence will soon be everywhere and that it has long since left the laboratories to flood our daily lives.

To be quite frank, I did not learn as much in this book as in others, but what particularly touched me and what finally made me read it in its entirety, is the quality of the writing, which will hold the most dissipated reader. A book that we recommend to everyone, and especially to those who have only a superficial knowledge of this coming world.