What To Do When Machines Do Everything

9EnhanceAmplify Human Performance with the New Machine

It's February 2003. You're driving your car to a meeting in downtown Chicago. The traffic is terrible. You're running late. You glance down at the directions and map you've printed out from Yahoo! You know you've got to take Exit 50B from the Kennedy Expressway. You miss it. You take 51B, but then realize it goes west, not downtown. You pull into a gas station, re-check the map, and turn around on Lake Street to get back on the expressway. You miss the turn. You look at your watch: It's 8:55 AM, and the meeting's in five minutes. “I'm not going to make it; I'm going to mess up the deal; my boss is going to kill me.”

It's February 2017. You're driving your car to a meeting in downtown Chicago. The traffic is terrible. You're running late. From your smartphone, Waze says, “Take North Milwaukee Avenue onto West Grand Avenue.” You've never been this way before. A moment later, Waze speaks up again: “Take North Franklin Street, then take East Ohio Street.” “OK,” you think, “if you say so.” A couple of minutes go by. “Your destination is on your left in 500 yards.” You look at your watch: It's 8:55 AM, and the meeting's in five minutes. “I'm going to make it; I'm going to close the deal; my boss is going to love me.”

Today, driving places we don't know is so easy, we hardly give it a second thought. Yet, it used to be so tough. Much marital discord, let alone missed sales, stemmed from arguments over whether it was a left or a ...