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What To Expect When You're Expecting Robots: The Future of Human-Robot Collaboration
The next generation of robots will be truly social, but can we make sure that they play well in the sandbox?
Most robots are just tools. They do limited sets of tasks subject to constant human control. But a new type of robot is coming. These machines will operate on their own in busy, unpredictable public spaces. They'll ferry deliveries, manage emergency rooms, even grocery shop. Such systems could be truly collaborative, accomplishing tasks we don't do well without our having to stop and direct them.
This makes them social entities, so, as robot designers Laura Major and Julie Shah argue, whether they make our lives better or worse is a matter of whether they know how to behave.
What to Expect When You're Expecting Robots offers a vision for how robots can survive in the real world and how they will change our relationship to technology. From teaching them manners, to robot-proofing public spaces, to planning for their mistakes, this book answers every question you didn't know you needed to ask about the robots on the way.
Most robots are just tools. They do limited sets of tasks subject to constant human control. But a new type of robot is coming. These machines will operate on their own in busy, unpredictable public spaces. They'll ferry deliveries, manage emergency rooms, even grocery shop. Such systems could be truly collaborative, accomplishing tasks we don't do well without our having to stop and direct them.
This makes them social entities, so, as robot designers Laura Major and Julie Shah argue, whether they make our lives better or worse is a matter of whether they know how to behave.
What to Expect When You're Expecting Robots offers a vision for how robots can survive in the real world and how they will change our relationship to technology. From teaching them manners, to robot-proofing public spaces, to planning for their mistakes, this book answers every question you didn't know you needed to ask about the robots on the way.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 2020
28 people are currently reading
514 people want to read
About the author
Laura Major
1ÌýbookLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ database with this name.
Laura Major has a long career developing autonomous solutions across ground robotics, aerial, and space applications. She is currently the CTO at Motional, where she leads the development of autonomous vehicles. Previously she was the CTO at Aria Insights / CyPhy Works, the pioneer in tethered drones.
Laura spent 12 years at Draper Laboratory developing new capabilities that fuse human and machine intelligence to solve technical challenges across many domains that address problems of national security. At Draper Laura led the research program under which ATAK, an Android app used on the battlefield, was first developed.
Laura was honored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) with a national award for Emerging Leaders in 2014, for her career accomplishments. Mass High Tech honored Laura as one of its 2014 "Women to Watch".
Laura has an MS from MIT and a BS from Georgia Tech and she has been active in STEM mentoring with Science Club for Girls, which connects girls in grades K-12 with female mentor-scientists and engineers.
(Source: Amazon.com)
Laura Major has a long career developing autonomous solutions across ground robotics, aerial, and space applications. She is currently the CTO at Motional, where she leads the development of autonomous vehicles. Previously she was the CTO at Aria Insights / CyPhy Works, the pioneer in tethered drones.
Laura spent 12 years at Draper Laboratory developing new capabilities that fuse human and machine intelligence to solve technical challenges across many domains that address problems of national security. At Draper Laura led the research program under which ATAK, an Android app used on the battlefield, was first developed.
Laura was honored by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) with a national award for Emerging Leaders in 2014, for her career accomplishments. Mass High Tech honored Laura as one of its 2014 "Women to Watch".
Laura has an MS from MIT and a BS from Georgia Tech and she has been active in STEM mentoring with Science Club for Girls, which connects girls in grades K-12 with female mentor-scientists and engineers.
(Source: Amazon.com)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 12, 2020
For however smart your Roomba or Alexa might seem, historically, robots have been fairly dumb. They are only able to do their jobs when given a narrow set of tasks, confined in a controlled environment, and overseen by a human operator. But things are changing. A new breed of robots is in development that will operate largely on their own. They'll drive on roads and sidewalks, ferry deliveries within buildings, stock shelves in stores, and coordinate teams of doctors and nurses. These autonomous systems will find their way into busy, often unpredictable public spaces.
They could be truly collaborative, augmenting human work by attending to the parts of tasks we don't do as well, without our having to stop and direct them. But consider, for a moment, the sorcerer's apprentice. The broom he set to work was also supposed to be collaborative, too, and should have made his life much easier. But the broom didn't know how to behave, and the apprentice no longer understood the thing he had made. The challenge of this next generation of robots is that, like the apprentice's broom, they will wreak complete havoc, inadvertently hurting or even killing people, unless we can recognize a simple truth: collaborative robots will be the first truly social creatures that technology has created. They will need to know how to behave in unfamiliar spaces and around untrained users and bystanders.
Robot experts Julie Shah and Laura Major are among those engineers leading the development of collaborative robots, and in this book, they will offer their vision for how to make it in the new era of human-robot collaboration. They set out the blueprint for what they call working robots, which in many ways resemble service animals, and take readers through the many fascinating and surprising challenges that both engineers and the public will need to address in figuring out these machines can be responsibly integrated into society: what they will have to look like, how they will have to talk to strangers and what robot etiquette will be, whether we will have to "robot-proof" public spaces and infrastructure, and how the safety-critical work of human-robot collaboration will force a sea change in how the tech industry is regulated.
Today, we still gawk at a car that drives by without a driver. Tomorrow, you might find yourself driving next to five of them. We can debate whether the singularity will ever come, but robots need not be superintelligent in order to revolutionize our relationship to technology. Read this book to find out how. Addressing both the positive and negative connotations and implications of robots gaining more of a foothold in every area of life in the not too distant future whilst in conjunction with humans, this is a fascinating, prescient and accessible book. It's eminently readable, too, and could not have been written by those with any more expertise in the subject. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Basic Books for an ARC.
They could be truly collaborative, augmenting human work by attending to the parts of tasks we don't do as well, without our having to stop and direct them. But consider, for a moment, the sorcerer's apprentice. The broom he set to work was also supposed to be collaborative, too, and should have made his life much easier. But the broom didn't know how to behave, and the apprentice no longer understood the thing he had made. The challenge of this next generation of robots is that, like the apprentice's broom, they will wreak complete havoc, inadvertently hurting or even killing people, unless we can recognize a simple truth: collaborative robots will be the first truly social creatures that technology has created. They will need to know how to behave in unfamiliar spaces and around untrained users and bystanders.
Robot experts Julie Shah and Laura Major are among those engineers leading the development of collaborative robots, and in this book, they will offer their vision for how to make it in the new era of human-robot collaboration. They set out the blueprint for what they call working robots, which in many ways resemble service animals, and take readers through the many fascinating and surprising challenges that both engineers and the public will need to address in figuring out these machines can be responsibly integrated into society: what they will have to look like, how they will have to talk to strangers and what robot etiquette will be, whether we will have to "robot-proof" public spaces and infrastructure, and how the safety-critical work of human-robot collaboration will force a sea change in how the tech industry is regulated.
Today, we still gawk at a car that drives by without a driver. Tomorrow, you might find yourself driving next to five of them. We can debate whether the singularity will ever come, but robots need not be superintelligent in order to revolutionize our relationship to technology. Read this book to find out how. Addressing both the positive and negative connotations and implications of robots gaining more of a foothold in every area of life in the not too distant future whilst in conjunction with humans, this is a fascinating, prescient and accessible book. It's eminently readable, too, and could not have been written by those with any more expertise in the subject. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Basic Books for an ARC.
December 24, 2021
This have one of the most intriguing titles of non fiction I've read this year and my curiosity never died down listening to this. Very interesting and very fun to learn more of this topic. As much as robots fascinated me I still get bit uncomfortable by them but I do love reading books like this or fictions
November 5, 2023
I have some mixed feelings regarding this book. The book does a good job in explaining the intricacies of human-automation interaction in lay terms and how the deployment of social robots may bring to light human factors challenges that, for now, we can’t even begin to anticipate. As someone that sometimes deals with the difficulty of explaining these issues, I’ve already felt the urge to buy a few copies and just offer them�
I just wished that the book could be a bit shorter. While it is well written it is often repetitive, with variations on the same ideas being presented frequently. I suppose this may come down to how difficult it is to describe in a sequential manner, concepts and associations that deeply interconnected.
Anyway, it’s still a good book!
I just wished that the book could be a bit shorter. While it is well written it is often repetitive, with variations on the same ideas being presented frequently. I suppose this may come down to how difficult it is to describe in a sequential manner, concepts and associations that deeply interconnected.
Anyway, it’s still a good book!
July 7, 2022
Robots don't have the same capabilities as people, and they don't think like us. This is a strength, but to understand how to fit robots with humans, we first need to understand our own human limitations and strengths--including our propensity to trust inappropriately. The user robot partnership must be designed from the beginning with this in mind to ensure that these new social entities are effective and responsible. Just because Rosie [the robot from The Jetsons] could flip pancakes doesn't mean you should leave her unattended to put together Thanksgiving dinner from Chapter One: "The Automation Invasion"
I thoroughly enjoyed Laura Major and Julie Shah's excursion into the difficulties of preparing society for the onset of robots. We need to drop any misguided notions about the relationship culled from television and film--the reality is far more sobering. Major and Shah note that what we should "expect when you're expecting robots" is the fundamental fact that robots will not work for us but with us. And, let's face it, humanity is complex, unpredictable, and collectively generates "social entropy" daily. Designing robots to work alongside bystanders on highways or sidewalks and expecting them to mesh seamlessly is, for the most part, naïve and nigh impossible without some preparation.
Major and Shah, drawing on their engineering experience, describe the issues well, often using the automation of the aviation industry to emphasize potential snares and fatal mistakes. They can be repetitive, repeating key points over and over, but their repetition is designed to accentuate important considerations. Delivery robots and drones cannot function in the background of our social matrix; they will be a part of it as they come into daily contact with people strolling, going to work, living life.
Experts do not normally write such an engaging text--Major and Shah do. This is a fascinating book we may all return to ponder once the brave new world they see coming is upon us all. We cannot say no one told us of potential problems and what precautions we should prepare to make this social transition relatively painless and safely.
This is Book 600 (Technology and Engineering) in my personal "Dewey Decimal Reading Challenge," reading a book from each of the ten categories of the Dewey Decimal system.
Reviews of Other Books in the Challenge:
Book 000:
Book 100:
Book 200:
Book 300:
Book 400:
Book 500:
Book 600:
Book 700:
I thoroughly enjoyed Laura Major and Julie Shah's excursion into the difficulties of preparing society for the onset of robots. We need to drop any misguided notions about the relationship culled from television and film--the reality is far more sobering. Major and Shah note that what we should "expect when you're expecting robots" is the fundamental fact that robots will not work for us but with us. And, let's face it, humanity is complex, unpredictable, and collectively generates "social entropy" daily. Designing robots to work alongside bystanders on highways or sidewalks and expecting them to mesh seamlessly is, for the most part, naïve and nigh impossible without some preparation.
Major and Shah, drawing on their engineering experience, describe the issues well, often using the automation of the aviation industry to emphasize potential snares and fatal mistakes. They can be repetitive, repeating key points over and over, but their repetition is designed to accentuate important considerations. Delivery robots and drones cannot function in the background of our social matrix; they will be a part of it as they come into daily contact with people strolling, going to work, living life.
Experts do not normally write such an engaging text--Major and Shah do. This is a fascinating book we may all return to ponder once the brave new world they see coming is upon us all. We cannot say no one told us of potential problems and what precautions we should prepare to make this social transition relatively painless and safely.
This is Book 600 (Technology and Engineering) in my personal "Dewey Decimal Reading Challenge," reading a book from each of the ten categories of the Dewey Decimal system.
Reviews of Other Books in the Challenge:
Book 000:
Book 100:
Book 200:
Book 300:
Book 400:
Book 500:
Book 600:
Book 700:
November 13, 2020
Autonomous vehicles, package delivery drones, automatic grocery restocking units: these examples of emerging robot technology are vastly different from previous task-specific devices like your Roomba or even industrial assembly-line robots. That difference involves their need to interact with our world to safely perform their complex tasks while coping with our unpredictability. They need to learn how to behave to get along with us.
In , Laura Major and focus on the importance of relationships between working robots and their uncertain environment, especially humans. The authors' experience includes robotics for the aerospace, military, and autonomous vehicle industries. Their consideration of robot behavior incorporates examples across industry and academia.
We are shown connections from past human/automaton collaborations from aviation and process control to today's commercially-available smart robots. In parallel with technological innovation, they also expound on the related sociology and human-factors engineering that accompanied it.
As a product development professional, I found that the book contained numerous gems for me that apply outside the realm of Robotics. One such example involved NASA's classification of events based on how decisions get made, which could help guide any automation design. Type II events, those foreseeable events where we can't predetermine the correct response, can't be automated. Still, we could enhance the human response by focusing only on the most relevant information. This principle could be applied to improve the design of a web app used to manage and monitor a communication network, for instance, where automation can mitigate many network failures. When a Type II event occurred, the UI could focus on that failure and filter the control elements to only those relevant to the human operator for problem-solving the error. In this case, the goal is to facilitate more effective creative problem-solving, which is a strength the human excels at over any current artificial system.
I initially picked this book to read because I am deeply interested in the relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Humans. Well, that plus the brightly colored cover with the tongue-in-cheek title harkening back to a universal parenting book and the cute robot-child on it. I found an accessible exploration of the social, environmental, and policy issues to tackle so that automation and robotics can continue to make our lives better by complementing our strengths.
This book should be required reading for anyone involved in products that incorporate AI, machine learning, or robotic technologies. I recommend it to anyone interested in or worried about technology and its impact on society.
In , Laura Major and focus on the importance of relationships between working robots and their uncertain environment, especially humans. The authors' experience includes robotics for the aerospace, military, and autonomous vehicle industries. Their consideration of robot behavior incorporates examples across industry and academia.
We are shown connections from past human/automaton collaborations from aviation and process control to today's commercially-available smart robots. In parallel with technological innovation, they also expound on the related sociology and human-factors engineering that accompanied it.
As a product development professional, I found that the book contained numerous gems for me that apply outside the realm of Robotics. One such example involved NASA's classification of events based on how decisions get made, which could help guide any automation design. Type II events, those foreseeable events where we can't predetermine the correct response, can't be automated. Still, we could enhance the human response by focusing only on the most relevant information. This principle could be applied to improve the design of a web app used to manage and monitor a communication network, for instance, where automation can mitigate many network failures. When a Type II event occurred, the UI could focus on that failure and filter the control elements to only those relevant to the human operator for problem-solving the error. In this case, the goal is to facilitate more effective creative problem-solving, which is a strength the human excels at over any current artificial system.
I initially picked this book to read because I am deeply interested in the relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Humans. Well, that plus the brightly colored cover with the tongue-in-cheek title harkening back to a universal parenting book and the cute robot-child on it. I found an accessible exploration of the social, environmental, and policy issues to tackle so that automation and robotics can continue to make our lives better by complementing our strengths.
This book should be required reading for anyone involved in products that incorporate AI, machine learning, or robotic technologies. I recommend it to anyone interested in or worried about technology and its impact on society.
January 4, 2022
I learned from this book, but in all honesty found it a bit dull and repetitive at times.
This book starts with an assumption that robots will be ubiquitous in the near future. This means that we will have autonomous cars, delivery robots, climbing robots, warehouse robots. The rest of the book talks about how society will essentially need to be reworked to accommodate said robots.
I feel like this book is really more academically geared toward people already in the field. The authors barely mention any actual new or developing robots (that would have been fun to see with pictures and descriptors but perhaps that is proprietary information). Instead they go on about how we cannot expect robots to actually be full autonomous given our limitations and gives some strategies on how we can live with robots who are not our servants, but our partners.
That’s the majority of the book. The last parts delve into how robots from different companies will talk to each other (a near impossible sounding task given corporate greed) and how we would design streets and sidewalks to accommodate robots (also could imagine severe backlash here).
Some of the ideas are compelling, but the book itself came off as dry and could have been more engaging with a better illustrator. Inside there’s a lot of dull diagrams and schematics. I’m something of a futurist in that I love imagining how society will be transformed by technological advances. I wish more of the author’s passion came through a bit more here.
This book starts with an assumption that robots will be ubiquitous in the near future. This means that we will have autonomous cars, delivery robots, climbing robots, warehouse robots. The rest of the book talks about how society will essentially need to be reworked to accommodate said robots.
I feel like this book is really more academically geared toward people already in the field. The authors barely mention any actual new or developing robots (that would have been fun to see with pictures and descriptors but perhaps that is proprietary information). Instead they go on about how we cannot expect robots to actually be full autonomous given our limitations and gives some strategies on how we can live with robots who are not our servants, but our partners.
That’s the majority of the book. The last parts delve into how robots from different companies will talk to each other (a near impossible sounding task given corporate greed) and how we would design streets and sidewalks to accommodate robots (also could imagine severe backlash here).
Some of the ideas are compelling, but the book itself came off as dry and could have been more engaging with a better illustrator. Inside there’s a lot of dull diagrams and schematics. I’m something of a futurist in that I love imagining how society will be transformed by technological advances. I wish more of the author’s passion came through a bit more here.
June 18, 2020
What did I expect from a book titled "…Expecting Robots?". Certainly not all the interesting reflections, nor the frightening predictions and surprising possibilities of the near future when humans and robots will live together.
I had in mind the robots of science fiction (Asimov’s anyone?) and I assumed that current robots, in their various forms, would progressively reach an extraordinary degree of sophistication, but basically in a quiet and harmless way.
The book by Major and Shah was a cold shower, an abrupt return to solid reality: in any case, the future won't be easy.
This book is about how the robot must be designed to really help people, to understand their behavior and intentions, to take care of them, to make the impact of new robotic developments less dangerous and traumatic.
Fundamentally, to achieve this, we must rethink the way we view technology and what we expect from it.
The Authors - both involved in robotics (Susan Calvin would like them) - use the problems and the excellent results achieved in aeronautics field especially in terms of design and safety, to offer guidelines to developers, engineers and technicians about new robots. The risk today is to focus on creating software and machines increasingly perfect “in vitro�, but ill-suited and dangerous in the real world. From the very beginning instead, the aim should be to create a dynamic balance and an immediate understanding between supervisors, robots and bystanders (pets included). We don't need cute robots, but robots capable of interacting with human beings even on the basis of our many unwritten rules and different cultures, of giving and receiving help, of not being a risk, of making general life safer. It is a task that we need to start with right now, involving designers, politicians, industrialists and citizens.
So, what to expect when you are expecting robots? A lot of problems, indeed, but the ideas in this book can help to considerably reduce their number. A very good book, Major and Shah!
Oh, this book clearly is not a novel, but the authors write well and some scenes seem almost fiction, for example the passages describing robots, people and cars swarming in our cities, or the fleet of robots making deliveries in a neighborhood�
A very good book, with an important and very necessary message.
I had in mind the robots of science fiction (Asimov’s anyone?) and I assumed that current robots, in their various forms, would progressively reach an extraordinary degree of sophistication, but basically in a quiet and harmless way.
The book by Major and Shah was a cold shower, an abrupt return to solid reality: in any case, the future won't be easy.
This book is about how the robot must be designed to really help people, to understand their behavior and intentions, to take care of them, to make the impact of new robotic developments less dangerous and traumatic.
Fundamentally, to achieve this, we must rethink the way we view technology and what we expect from it.
The Authors - both involved in robotics (Susan Calvin would like them) - use the problems and the excellent results achieved in aeronautics field especially in terms of design and safety, to offer guidelines to developers, engineers and technicians about new robots. The risk today is to focus on creating software and machines increasingly perfect “in vitro�, but ill-suited and dangerous in the real world. From the very beginning instead, the aim should be to create a dynamic balance and an immediate understanding between supervisors, robots and bystanders (pets included). We don't need cute robots, but robots capable of interacting with human beings even on the basis of our many unwritten rules and different cultures, of giving and receiving help, of not being a risk, of making general life safer. It is a task that we need to start with right now, involving designers, politicians, industrialists and citizens.
So, what to expect when you are expecting robots? A lot of problems, indeed, but the ideas in this book can help to considerably reduce their number. A very good book, Major and Shah!
Oh, this book clearly is not a novel, but the authors write well and some scenes seem almost fiction, for example the passages describing robots, people and cars swarming in our cities, or the fleet of robots making deliveries in a neighborhood�
A very good book, with an important and very necessary message.
July 1, 2020
That was quite an interesting book to read! Many of the takes were regarding things I have never think about - though it seems quite intuitive after you read. It will be interesting to watch how the next years will play out, and compare with the authors take on the subject. It got me think about all the obstacles the robots roll out will face, and I am particularly nervous about the strong dependence it needs on the collaboration between many conflicting parts and the sharing of data between them. I really can't see this going very smoothly...
I am not well versed on the history of the automation, and the authors did a great job when selecting the examples to make a case for the expectations of this new phase of robot development. One thing I was particularly drawn to were the comparisons with the aviation industry. I might look for a book regarding its history in the future, seems like a very compelling subject.
It was a great read, and I am recommending this book for many of my friends that are interested in AI.
I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I am not well versed on the history of the automation, and the authors did a great job when selecting the examples to make a case for the expectations of this new phase of robot development. One thing I was particularly drawn to were the comparisons with the aviation industry. I might look for a book regarding its history in the future, seems like a very compelling subject.
It was a great read, and I am recommending this book for many of my friends that are interested in AI.
I received this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 18, 2023
This was an excellent book on the topic of robotics, artificial intelligence and the future. A lot of really good suggestions in here for policymakers and all of us. Essential thesis - we need to prepare ourselves to live in a world where Ai and robotics is everywhere, and that requires some education about what this tech. can and can't do, and like driving, some behavioral norms and rules will help both sides function better. Similarly, we need policy, practice, and standards that require and/or incentivize industry to design this tech. with humans in mind. A lot of parallels from the transportation industry, particularly aircraft, where a lot of this tech. is already in place, and decades of trial and error has resulted in some sound strategies for how exactly to apply automation. A key concept, for example, is that sometimes you should not automate everything you can. If you need a human in the loop, you have to keep them engaged actively, even if that means sacrificing some automation in order to ensure proper attention.
April 12, 2024
This was the first science book I have read and I really enjoyed it. Can be kind of repetitive but it helps drive the point home. I also found myself getting so distracted by my own thoughts about the subject that picking up the book became a time sink. I ended up getting the audiobook off audible and finished the last few chapters in around a week.
Ultimately a really good and interesting book! As someone who wants to do research or develop robotics it was a worth while read, even with the time it took me to read. It inspired me to reach out to a Human-Robot Interaction lab at the college I’m at and it sounds like I’ll be able to do some undergrad research.
Some predictions in the last chapter with the Community of Tomorrow sound like something straight out of dystopian for the residents that would volunteer to live there. I can see how it would be beneficial for companies, but seems like it may be isolating for people living there.
Ultimately a really good and interesting book! As someone who wants to do research or develop robotics it was a worth while read, even with the time it took me to read. It inspired me to reach out to a Human-Robot Interaction lab at the college I’m at and it sounds like I’ll be able to do some undergrad research.
Some predictions in the last chapter with the Community of Tomorrow sound like something straight out of dystopian for the residents that would volunteer to live there. I can see how it would be beneficial for companies, but seems like it may be isolating for people living there.
September 14, 2022
Touches upon a topic often ignored in the tech industry with its relentless pursuit of profits and technology for the sake of technology. The authors do a good job of capturing and dwelling on the multi-faceted approach needed to make robots work better for and with humans. Some of the insights are generic, others more unique, specific, or revelatory.
Overall, I felt this book would be great for someone not very familiar with robotics or the world of user experiences and human-machine collaboration. However, for people already engaged with these industries, I felt the book could have been better edited. There is a lot of redundancy and occasionally, the word count feels cumbersome for the points being made. A more succinct edit would have made for a quicker and clearer reading.
Overall, I felt this book would be great for someone not very familiar with robotics or the world of user experiences and human-machine collaboration. However, for people already engaged with these industries, I felt the book could have been better edited. There is a lot of redundancy and occasionally, the word count feels cumbersome for the points being made. A more succinct edit would have made for a quicker and clearer reading.
January 13, 2021
A thoroughly mediocre book about human-robot collaboration. The authors are from aerospace, drones, and autonomous vehicle space, and that's all they seem to know. The have no clue about the long history of robotic in manufacturing, or the work on collaboration being done there, until they mention Amazon late in the book. Guess what, Amazon wasn't the first.
In addition, they're talking about collaboration within wider society, and they ignore the issue of regulations.
Still, for all the flaws, there are some very good nuggets of ideas that should be considered when looking at human-robot collaboration, and it's a smooth read.
In addition, they're talking about collaboration within wider society, and they ignore the issue of regulations.
Still, for all the flaws, there are some very good nuggets of ideas that should be considered when looking at human-robot collaboration, and it's a smooth read.
December 1, 2024
I actually quit reading this book and intentionally left it in Porto. It's so repetitive and so redundant. I wanted it to be so much better so I was really disappointed and bored, it should have just been an article. It had a chapter called "The Three Body Problem" while barely being able to explain what the physics three body problem is. Why use it as a simile if it doesn't make your explanation any easier? It feels like a cash-grab book. They really only had one comment to make about human-robot collaboration and then decided to turn it into a whole book.
March 18, 2021
This didn't do much for me. It wasn't bad, but it didn't add enough to my understanding about the continued automation we experience. It was a good book and I enjoyed the writing. You couldn't really tell that there were two authors. I enjoyed the graphics and charts used. They helped a lot.
August 18, 2021
I did not like this book and found it hard to read.
December 16, 2021
Stopped reading it after 20 pages. Don't know about the remaining pages, but the first 20 just contained meaningless text. Stating the obvious in 20 different ways.
November 25, 2022
I'm not a techie but I still learned from this book.
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