From Gutenberg to Google and on to AI: The History of Our Future - Paperback

by Tom Wheeler (Author)

The two great Western technological revolutions of the past, the invention of movable type in the fifteenth century and the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth century, changed the course of economies and societies and radically altered how humans interacted with each other and their world. In this updated edition of From Gutenberg to Google, former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler takes up a still unfolding transformational revolution in twenty-first century technology: artificial intelligence. Building on insights on connectivity developed in the previous edition, Wheeler describes the enormous potential of this fast-expanding and powerful technology and highlights the urgent need for governments across the globe to regulate its use, both to limit opportunities for harm and to engage its capabilities for good.

Back Jacket

It's easy to think that today's revolutions in communications, business, and many areas of daily life are unprecedented. The changes we experience nearly every day may be happening faster than those of the past, and on multiple fronts. But our ancestors at times were just as bewildered by rapid upheavals in what we now call "networks" the physical links that bind any society together.

In this fascinating book, Tom Wheeler vividly describes the two great network revolutions of the past and uses them to put in perspective the confusion, uncertainty, and excitement most people feel about changes happening now, changes that make up the third network revolution.

The first major network revolution was Gutenberg's invention of movable-type printing in the fifteenth century, which created the first mass-information economy. This book, its millions of predecessors, and history-shifting trends such as the Reformation, the Renaissance, and the scientific revolutions of the past 500 years would not have been possible without that one invention.

The second revolution came early in the nineteenth century with the inventions of the railroad and the telegraph. Never before had people been able to travel or communicate over long distances faster than a horse could gallop. Together, these two inventions compressed space and time, and in the process upended centuries of stability, transformed economies, and redrew the map of the world.

Wheeler contrasts these past revolutions with our experience today, when rapid-fire changes in networking are disrupting the nature of work, personal privacy, education, the media, and nearly every other aspect of modern life. The principal manifestation of this revolution--one that touches each of us directly and shapes both commerce and culture--is how we connect with each other. Our networks have always defined who we are, both economically and sociologically. Now, technology has delivered us into history's latest network revolution, changing everything it touches.

Outlining "what's next," Wheeler describes how artificial intelligence, virtual reality, blockchain, and the need for cybersecurity will prolong the third network revolution well into the future.

Author Biography

Before he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in 2013, Tom Wheeler started or helped found several companies offering new cable, wireless, and video communications services. He is also a historian with a deep interest in how the events and trends of today reflect--or don't--what happened in the past.