Buy new:
-48% $12.94
FREE delivery May 13 - 14
Ships from: textbooks_source
Sold by: textbooks_source
$12.94 with 48 percent savings
List Price: $24.95

The List Price is the suggested retail price of a new product as provided by a manufacturer, supplier, or seller. Except for books, Amazon will display a List Price if the product was purchased by customers on Amazon or offered by other retailers at or above the List Price in at least the past 90 days. List prices may not necessarily reflect the product's prevailing market price.
Learn more
FREE delivery May 13 - 14. Details
Or fastest delivery Thursday, May 9. Order within 16 hrs 43 mins. Details
Only 5 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.94 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.94
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Ships from
textbooks_source
Ships from
textbooks_source
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Returns
Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt
This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.
Read full return policy
Payment
Secure transaction
Your transaction is secure
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
Payment
Secure transaction
We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more
$7.18
Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns
Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. Shipped fast and reliably through the Amazon Prime program! Book may contain some writing, highlighting, and or cover damage. See less
FREE delivery Saturday, May 11 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35. Order within 3 hrs 43 mins
Only 1 left in stock - order soon.
$$12.94 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details
Price
Subtotal
$$12.94
Subtotal
Initial payment breakdown
Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout.
Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.
Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

Vivek Wadhwa
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Our Technology Choices Will Create the Future Hardcover – April 3, 2017

by Vivek Wadhwa (Author), Alex Salkever (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 281 ratings
See all formats and editions
{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$12.94","priceAmount":12.94,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"12","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"94","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"NSbTl6q%2Fkjd52HUJMrD96tWQRbWgDsFcf4KJu37FO%2FbEVK2PZb1Adz%2FueEPWMIlTQ6epgcD4830ewUFXXtpFUJrLFdYNiAEThQa6IXQwYzuIsdcpGJRhVaB9lBaGugyATVfoPsTxUu%2FFMwOnPkM3stutrFQZPkFSqgl2UuYhIQHpKQZd931uiA%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$7.18","priceAmount":7.18,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"7","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"18","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"NSbTl6q%2Fkjd52HUJMrD96tWQRbWgDsFcm9jPDRzi4FyMhGD2wcPY755WCItht2yiR5IezVB9NduOJmF9p3HKa2bPy8Bef%2FC9P18KOMaHr77uAjNGqVBcRAfbPRy1r0%2FCdWsPkdWJ5YFhwlqeUyewbswWd%2BstvxNOGemp4a%2B%2Fl%2Bmfyk9LeIMFeRZ86vlVJyYw","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

A computer beats the reigning human champion of Go, a game harder than chess. Another is composing classical music. Labs are creating life-forms from synthetic DNA. A doctor designs an artificial trachea, uses a 3D printer to produce it, and implants it and saves a child's life.

Astonishing technological advances like these are arriving in increasing numbers. Scholar and entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa uses this book to alert us to dozens of them and raise important questions about what they may mean for us.

Breakthroughs such as personalized genomics, self-driving vehicles, drones, and artificial intelligence could make our lives healthier, safer, and easier. But the same technologies raise the specter of a frightening, alienating future: eugenics, a jobless economy, complete loss of privacy, and ever-worsening economic inequality. As Wadhwa puts it, our choices will determine if our future is Star Trek or Mad Max.

Wadhwa offers us three questions to ask about every emerging technology: Does it have the potential to benefit everyone equally? What are its risks and rewards? And does it promote autonomy or dependence? Looking at a broad array of advances in this light, he emphasizes that the future is up to us to create—that even if our hands are not on the wheel, we will decide the driverless car's destination.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  4. Publication date
    April 3, 2017
  5. Dimensions
    5.88 x 0.81 x 8.81 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1626569711
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1626569713
  8. See all details
Next page
Amazon First Reads | Editors' picks at exclusive prices

Editorial Reviews

Review

“....a succinct and provocative examination of the social and ethical implications of breakthroughs.”
- 2017 Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year - Long List

"Writing with Alex Salkever, Wadhwa ranges over applications from genome editing and the Internet of Things to artificial intelligence, weighing up their potential for risk and the universality of any benefits. Readers may not all share his enthusiasm for autonomous vehicles, but his pointed analyses of the coming transformations add nuance to the debate."
—Barbara Kiser, Books in Brief, Nature Magazine

"I strongly recommend this well-written book. You would be hard put to find another review of technological advance that covers so much ground so succinctly — and at times so provocatively."
—Clive Cookson, Financial Times Summer Books of 2017: Science

"Of all the books I have read so far this year, 'The Driver in the Driverless Car – How our technology choices will create the future' by American technology guru Vivek Wadhwa and tech journalist Alex Salkever impressed me the most."
—Kofi Annan Foundation, Summer Book Club 2017

“Vivek raises one of the most important issues of our time -- the use of technology to uplift rather than displace humans. His book provides an invaluable guide for assessing the benefits and risks of future technologies.”
—Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft

“Exponential technologies are about to transform every aspect of our lives. Understanding the potential and implications of these technologies is crucial to every person and every company. In this book, Vivek provides you a clear and authoritative blueprint for assessing their benefits and risks.”
—Peter H. Diamandis, MD, cofounder and Executive Chairman, Singularity University, and author of New York Times bestsellers Abundance and Bold

“Realizing the promise of the accelerating returns in front of us while avoiding the peril is arguably the most important issue for humankind's future. Vivek's new book articulately and insightfully examines the contours of both.”
—Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist, and author of The Singularity Is Near and How to Create a Mind

“Brilliant book! Our constantly-in-change world is now running on ‘exponential time,' and this disruption has huge consequences. Vivek gives us the prism to make sense of it all.”
—John Sculley, former CEO, Apple

“Vivek possesses the brilliance and vision to foretell the technological path that will define our future. More important, he has the heart and compassion to trumpet the clarion call so that , as business leaders, we know how to take our employees with us on this journey of innovative enlightenment.”
—Lynn Tilton, CEO, Patriarch Partners, LLC

“The questions this book raises are too important to be ignored by our political leaders or by the general public. Vivek Wadhwa compellingly explains the awesome opportunities technological advances hold for us. He also demonstrates the urgent need to establish a new system of governance to ensure that we can reap the rewards while containing the risks awaiting us.”
—Kofi Annan, seventh United Nations Secretary General; corecipient of the Nobel Peace Prize; and founder and Chairman, Kofi Annan Foundation

About the Author

Vivek Wadhwa is a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering and a director of research at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering. He is a globally syndicated columnist for the Washington Post; author of The Immigrant Exodus, which the Economist named a Book of the Year of 2012; and coauthor of Innovating Women, which documents the struggles and triumphs of women in technology. Wadhwa has held appointments at Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School, UC Berkeley, and Emory University and is an adjunct faculty member at Singularity University.

Alex Salkever is vice president of marketing communications at Mozilla. He was a technology editor of BusinessWeek, a regular science contributor to the Christian Science Monitor, and a contributor to The Immigrant Exodus.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (April 3, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1626569711
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1626569713
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.1 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.88 x 0.81 x 8.81 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 281 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Vivek Wadhwa

Vivek Wadhwa

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Vivek Wadhwa is a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. He is a globally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and author of The Driver in the Driverless Car: How Our Technology Choices Will Create the Future; The Immigrant Exodus: Why America Is Losing the Global Race to Capture Entrepreneurial Talent, which was named by The Economist as a Book of the Year of 2012; and of Innovating Women: The Changing Face of Technology, which documents the struggles and triumphs of women. Wadhwa has held appointments at Duke University, Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School, and Emory University and is a faculty member at Singularity University.

Wadhwa is based in Silicon Valley and researches exponentially advancing technologies that are soon going to change our world. These advances–in fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, computing, synthetic biology, 3D printing, medicine, and nanomaterials–are making it possible for small teams to do what was once possible only for governments and large corporations to do: solve the grand challenges in education, water, food, shelter, health, and security. They will also disrupt industries and create many new policy, law, and ethics issues.

In 2012, the U.S. Government awarded Wadhwa distinguished recognition as an “Outstanding American by Choice”, for his “commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans”. He was also named one of the world’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers” by Foreign Policy magazine in that year; in June 2013, he was on TIME magazine’s list of “Tech 40”, one of forty of the most influential minds in tech; and in September 2015, he was second on a list of “ten men worth emulating” in The Financial Times.

Wadhwa teaches subjects such as technology, industry disruption, entrepreneurship, and public policy; researches the policy, law, and ethics issues of exponential technologies; helps prepare students for the real world; and advises several governments. In addition to being a columnist for The Washington Post, he is a contributor to VentureBeat, The Huffington Post, LinkedIn Influencers blog, and the American Society of Engineering Education’s Prism magazine. Prior to joining academia in 2005, Wadhwa founded two software companies.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
281 global ratings
A great introduction to what tech might do to us
5 Stars
A great introduction to what tech might do to us
This is an excellent look at our technologically disrupted future. AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, smart devices and the like are going to change all our lives - and not always for the better. The future could be a utopian Star Trek or a dystopian Mad Max, says Vivek Wadhwa, a renowned researcher and futurist. It's our choice to make. The book has thought-provoking insights regarding the profound changes coming our way and the future of work. I loved the title itself - it makes you think, and answers the question of what we need to become. For business leaders and policy makers, or even just for parents and people concerned about health issues, this is an excellent introduction to what to expect over the next few years. I gleaned many insights - and some surprises.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Jack Spain
5.0 out of 5 stars An insightful tutorial to prepare us to wisely and confidently confront critical decisions impacting our future
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2017
Verified Purchase
Vivek Wadhwa’s latest book, “Driver in the Driverless Car: How our Technology Choices will Create the Future”, is an eye-opening commentary on the changes we are confronting today and will continue to face in the decades ahead. This book includes well-researched analysis and conclusions based on a thorough assessment of numerous technology advancements including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Big Data, Internet of Things (IOT), robotics, self-driving vehicles, 3D printers, and drones.

Wadhwa is a highly respected and insightful global thought-leader across multiple disciplines. The concepts in this book are not extreme futuristic topics and include many where Wadhwa has personal experience. Wadhwa includes a very pertinent quote from William Gibson who observed back in 1999, “The future is already here; it’s just not very evenly distributed”.

The book highlights both the tremendous opportunities and advantages from emerging technology impacting our healthcare, energy, media, education, retail, commercial, and industrial sectors. The risks and dangers from innovations like AI and genomic research are also addressed throughout the book. Wadhwa reminds us that “the amount of time it takes for a new technology to achieve mass adoption is shrinking” (i.e. Moore’s Law). This book helps prepare the reader to deal with the accelerating changes and critical decisions that we are challenged to make during the rest of our lifetime.

Bottom line, “Driver in the Driverless Car” is a great book and must read for anyone interested in preparing to make prudent personal and professional decisions that will ultimately have a positive and substantial impact.
13 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Umberto
4.0 out of 5 stars A balanced view on progress
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
The author does a good job at presenting the beautiful and the ugly of progress and technology advancements. On balance, I am afraid he is still a bit too optimistic, but the book helps to think more carefully about the changes we all are about to experience.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Ashok K. Vaish
5.0 out of 5 stars This book shows how rapidly escalating technology is reshaping what work means and how wealth is created.
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2017
Verified Purchase
There is a massive societal disruption in the making. We are moving rapidly from an industrial economy to a data-driven exponentially changing world. Market watchers observe that NASDAQ, with its high-tech stocks is, in the last couple of years, consistently outperforming the Dow Jones Index, largely comprised of industrial companies. Even Warren Buffett admitted last month that he completely missed the tech revolution in his investing. The rapid advance of AI, Robotics, Information and Data mining have meant that machines and automata are now replacing human workers. It is estimated that 25% of all unskilled jobs will disappear every decade.

Vivek Wadhwa, in this excellent and timely book, takes us on a detailed tour of this rapidly transforming tech landscape. In all major areas of our lives - Healthcare, Education, Finance, Energy, Communications, Retail - he illustrates with real world examples how radical change is transforming our lives - not always for the better. If you are someone who wants to understand the imperatives of these changes, wants to plan or invest for the future you must read this book.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Looking 4 Truth
4.0 out of 5 stars Good read!
Reviewed in the United States on September 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Good book with lots of potential insight into the future for us all. Although it DOES mention a few of the potential 'downsides', it doesn't (and rightfully so) mention the many negative potentials from all the 'negative people' in our world.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Stephen B
3.0 out of 5 stars An intro to AI for grandma
Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
I'm going to be an outlier here, but I had a hard time getting through this book.

Not because of the subject matter - it is clearly & simply presented, if only too simply. More for the "gee-whiz, isn't all technology wonderful & the solutions to all our problems" approach which is purportedly balanced by the "oh, by the way, we could usher in the world of the terminator."

The authors focus on superlatives for the first two parts of the book made it difficult, if not nearly possible to read. I don't feel that it added anything new to the discussion on AI/tech & was so vague as to make me want to stop reading.

However, and perch three and four the authors redeem themselves with a much more informative discussion of cyber security, drones, robotics, and health tech. We finally get to the autonomous cars & energy tech towards the end of the book, and it is the best written area.

I was about to put this book down and give it away. I don't bother to write poor reviews usually. However, I stuck it through, and it was moderately worthwhile. I would suggest this book for the lay person who has no understanding of technology - very Technology-savvy readers will probably be disappointed.

Parts 1 & 2: two stars
Parts 3 & 4: four stars
14 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Richard Eastburn
5.0 out of 5 stars It's coming to you. When in the driverless car ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
It's coming to you. When in the driverless car, we are going to need an internal compass to get to where we want to go. Vivek gives us the questions to ask to create, engage and fulfill our personal needs, desires and goals, with a compass our meaningful personal experience exemplifying, nudging, the collective collaborative experience forward into the gap where technology is accelerating faster than our current ability to create the map to reach our chosen destination. Our fear of the chameleon unknown could leave us parked in inertia and entropy.
Now is the time to prepare, to put our foot down, to accelerate our conscious engagement expanding our capacity and capability with commitment, conviction and certitude to advancing us all forward. This book is a first step forward to understand the journey of wonder wall opportunities cascading before us in the face of Mad Max fear and loathing. Create and set your compass. Share. Keep moving us all forward.
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Bass Bum 1
4.0 out of 5 stars A provocative and inspiring look into the future as technology ...
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2017
Verified Purchase
A provocative and inspiring look into the future as technology continues to change not only the workplace but the very nature of work itself. Read and take note.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
David Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars A Look Into The Future...
Reviewed in Canada on April 30, 2018
Verified Purchase
Or at least some possibilities of what the future may have in store for us. Very enjoyable and thought provoking.
Report
Perez Yannick
1.0 out of 5 stars Bof
Reviewed in France on November 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
La question est bien, le traitement trop journalistique. Décevant !
Report
Armando Porto
4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in Brazil on August 14, 2017
Verified Purchase
I recomend this book because it has an independent point of view, very honest and make us to think about our role to built the future, from now.
Report
Julia Begbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Authoritative, very easy to read, and more honest than most books of its type. Highly recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2017
Verified Purchase
Vivek Wadhwa is one of the very few influential authors who really gets to grips with the issue of technological unemployment. (IMHO.)

Most others fudge the issue, claiming that when cognitive automation arrives with full force (it has barely started yet) and replaces humans in jobs like driving, retail, call centres, warehouses, junior lawyering and accounting (etc etc etc) we will somehow open a Magic Job Drawer and invent loads of new jobs which for some reason the machines will be unable to do - even though their capability is doubling every 18 months and ours is not.

Or they say we can somehow fix the problem by revolutionising the education system.

Wadhwa thinks that cognitive automation could - if we are smart, and perhaps a bit lucky - lead to a Star Trek economy of radical abundance. But he thinks that may well not happen without preparation and forethought. If we blunder into technological unemployment without this, the results could be disastrous.

I think he is absolutely right.

What's more this book is both authoritative and very easy to read. Highly recommended!
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Sunil Shenoy
5.0 out of 5 stars Felt like I am experiencing the future. Too good Vivek
Reviewed in India on March 11, 2018
Verified Purchase
The book has all the flavors of the various Industries that are going to be disrupted as an effect of technological advancements. I am sure the world is going to give us more surprises than what you will read in this book, however one thing is definitely sure that we humans have still not made up our mind to face the new face of the world. I am also finding it quite common these days to see that the dooms day haunting is always the driver for such encouragement and you don't want to be left behind. If you want to have a peek into what's going to be the new normal in the next 20-30 years then this book is a must read. Again, too good Vivek!
Report