The Artificial Intelligence Contagion

WORKING

Barnhizer, David and Daniel Barnhizer. The Artificial Intelligence Contagion: Can Democracy Withstand the Imminent Transformation of Work, Wealth and the Social Order? Atlanta, GA: Clarity Press, 2019. Kindle and Audible.com, as of September 2024, here.[1]

From Kindle page linked above:

As AI/robotics eliminates jobs across the spectrum, governmental revenues will plummet while the debt increases dramatically. This crisis of limited resources on all levels—underfunded or non-existent pensions, health problems, lack of savings, and job destruction without comparable job creation—will drive many into homelessness and produce a dramatic rise in violence as we fight over shrinking resources.

“Ambitious, deeply researched, and far reaching in its scope and conclusions, Contagion is actually several books in one. Its summary of what AI is and will likely become is a standalone revelation. It also offers a critique of socio-economic ripple effects that verge on dystopian, and essays and “case studies” of specific sectors or regions, notably a chapter on China’s fusion of AI and social control.” JEFF LONG, New York Times Best-selling Author

“A sobering look at the far-reaching impact that artificial intelligence may have on the economy, the workforce, democracy and all of humanity. The Artificial Intelligence Contagion is a bellwether for anyone seeking to comprehend the global disruption coming our way.” —DAVID COOPER, President and Technologist , Massive Designs

“We see in the rush to develop AI the arrogance of the human species. Often buried by the exuberance over what AI might do is the massive dislocation it can cause. David and Daniel Barnhizer masterfully lead us through the societal challenges AI poses and offer possible solutions that will enable us to survive the AI contagion.” —KENNETH A. GRADY, Member, Advisory Boards, Elevate Services, Inc., MDR Lab, and LARI Ltd.

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Brief Contents, by Parts

PART I: Artificial Intelligence: A System Change Like None Other

PART II: The Ai/Robotics Contagion Is Ripping Apart Global Economic, Social And Political Systems

PART III: What Is Ai And What Is It Doing To Us?

PART IV: The Existing Economic And Social Ecosystem Chapter 

PART V: Moving Toward Solutions

In the Kindle edn. there are easily searchable Endnotes, with links, plus a Names Index, also with links; Acknowledgments (the book is largely a Barnhizer family effort, starting with David and Daniel as a father/son team), and an impressive section giving information "About the Authors."

Note that Daniel Barnhizer as an undergraduate at Miami University (Oxford, OH) served as "assistant to [Richard] Erlich for some three years of the work on [[Clockworks: A Multimedia Bibliography of Works Useful for the Study of the Human/Machine Interface in SF, copyright 1993, and therefore can trace his serious study of such topics back to the beginning of the 1990s.

RDE, finishing, 18Sep24, 3Oct24