We are living in the first exponential age. High-tech innovations are created at a dazzling speed; technological forces we barely understand remake our homes and workplaces; centuries-old tenets of politics and economics are upturned by new technologies. It all points to a world that is getting faster at a dizzying pace. Azeem Azhar knows this better than most. Over the last three decades, he has founded companies bought by Amazon and Microsoft, served as the Economist's first ever internet correspondent, and created a leading international tech newsletter and podcast, the Exponential View. Now, Azhar offers a revelatory new model for understanding how technology - especially that of Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google, and Spotify - is changing the world. He roots his analysis in the idea of an "exponential gap", in which technological changes rapidly outpace our society's ability to catch up with them. Azhar shows that this divide explains many problems of our time - from political polarization to ballooning inequality to unchecked corporate power. With stunning clarity of vision, he delves into how the exponential gap is a near-inevitable consequence of the rise of AI, automation, and big data. And he offers a set of policy solutions that can prevent the growing exponential gap from destroying our societies. The result is a wholly new way to think about technology. It will transform your understanding of the economy, politics, and the future.
