Not long ago, the worry of robots taking our jobs was the stuff of science fiction. Now, as self-driving cars take to the streets and robots fill our warehouses and factories, it is entering mainstream political debate around the world.
This raises important questions for all of us. How society uses new technologies is not a foregone conclusion. It depends on political decisions, cultural norms and economic choices as much as on the technologies themselves.
This book looks at the phenomenon of new robot technologies, asks what impact they might have on the economy, and considers how governments, businesses and individuals should respond to them. Because technological change is a complex business, it includes views from a range of disciplines, including economics, engineering, history, philosophy and innovation studies.