"Robots are our creation, and one day they will surpass us. This is not a science fiction dream or make-believe-this is reality. It's not a matter of if this happens, but when will it happen. What will happen afterward? No one knows for sure, but it will be complicated for the people that have not prepared for that day. Think about this: You are sitting in a waiting room. You have passed all the exams, three interviews, and a set of psychological tests. You are waiting for the decision on who will get the position of coordinator. You look to your left, and there it is: a robot. It has not checked its phone in the last hour. It just sits, ever patient. How is that possible? you think. Aren't some lines of work exempt from robots? But what you should be thinking is, how will you beat him? Let's Beat the Robots. Spoiler alert: Robots can be beaten by you because you are a human (unless you are a robot who is reading this book trying to find out how to prevent us from doing so). But our world wasn't designed to be run by our creations. Our world, our lives belong to us, the humans (unless some aliens make contact and in that moment we would have to join forces with the robots to avoid the extinction of the human race). If the "perfect" robot is going to take your job, how are you going to beat him? So instead of waiting for the government to bail you out or an entrepreneur to come with a revolutionary idea to save you, what you can do is take this horse and ride towards victory I wrote Beat the Robots as a the ultimate human guide to help you prepare for what is coming". -------------------------------------------------------- A lot of people thought years ago that robots would take over mechanical work. It turns out that they underestimated mechanical work, and overestimated intellectual and creative work. And this is not bad news. It is great news. We live in interesting times. This requires for us as individuals to think about the mindset that will make us successful, in that world or in any other. It forces us to explore the opportunities that humans have in such an environment. It forces you to think about the role that humans have in the world, and how to get the best of yourself, to thrive in such an environment. When Francisco asked me to write this prologue, I have to admit that I had no idea of what I was getting into. I read the introduction chapter, and that made me even more curious about the contents inside. Now having read through the pages, I can tell you that you are in for a ride. With the colorful metaphor of robots, he has managed to combine some of the most profound ideas of our moment, in a rhythm that will almost make you dizzy. Many people have gotten far because they stood in the shoulders of giants. In this book, Francisco will give you pointers to some of those giants of our time. Prepare yourself for a journey into human potential. And be prepared to look stuff up. Lots of stuff. Much more than you are probably used to. Robots are ubiquitous nowadays. You might imagine them as something from the future, but they are here right now. In your pocket. In your car. In factories, schools and musical instruments. And there will be more. They just do not look like humans, like science fiction movies promised. At least not all of them. The future may or may not be as described here, but one thing is for sure: this book is likely to make you think. And it will make you think in a way that, at the moment, robots cannot. Embrace that feeling. We live in interesting times. Enjoy them. ------------------------------------------ "We are today on the cusp of an intelligence explosion that will re-define the world as we know it. Beat The Robots first defines the status quo with this imminent wave of automation, then it breaks this status quo, along with giving you a clever handbook to thrive in an increasingly automated planet"
