The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts, Updated Edition

Faced with the growing challenges posed by AI, the sooner you read this book the better.

We're used to hearing how technology is going to replace the jobs of those doing mechanistic jobs - but this book takes on the impact that technology will have on the professions.I've only given the book three stars as it feels rather too much like a textbook (admittedly a well-written textbook), it's fairly repetitious and there's limited coverage of the science and technology behind the move. However this doesn't detract from the fascinating aspects of the book.One of these is simply addressing the professions at all. According to the authors there's a fair amount of literature on this - but it's stuff us ordinary mortals are unlikely to have seen. A starting point is deciding just what the professions are. The book primarily focuses on the traditional professions such as medicine, accountancy, the law, journalism and religion - though they admit that the concept, essentially one where it is necessary to have specialist knowledge and there is often regulation and/or certification, is now a lot wider. (In practice, though religion gets passing mentions, it's largely sidelined, which is probably sensible in the context.)The authors' assertion is that these roles can be subject to a kind of production line breakdown of tasks, some parts of which can easily be accommodated by information technology or less qualified individuals. The argument is that not only will this reduce costs where, for example, companies are reluctant to continue paying through the nose for corporate law (bye bye Suits), it also has the potential to open up these services to a much wider clientele that is presently largely excluded or at least has significantly reduced access.Of course there are plenty of objections (often from those involved in the professions) which the authors largely succeed in knocking out of the way. For example they point out that this move will probably reduce the earnings of many professionals - but as they observe, these roles are not there for the benefit of the professionals but for their clients. Inevitably there is quite a lot of futurology style guesswork here. The authors point out they will often be wrong in detail - but argue convincingly that the professions are going to go through a major upheaval in the next generation.It's amusing, given the authors' assertion that 'in the professions, knowledge resides in the heads of professionals, in books...', using this as a mark of how out of step the professions are in the internet age... that I should have been reading this in a book, rather than, say, a blog post or electronic magazine article. However this still remains a title of interest to anyone either involved in a profession (traditional or more modern) or interested in the future of the middle class.

The authors have effectively avoided being trapped writing a book about technology and focused instead on knowledge and how professionally-controlled knowledge will be influenced by wider changes driven by technology. I have a particular interest in the health professions, and my comments will reflect that perspective.Separate research shows that few health professions are amendable to computerisation. What Susskind & Susskind have done is show that despite this, professional knowledge will be affected by computerisation and the forces that are at work. We do know again from other work, that digitisation is 'hollowing out' the workplace, which in healthcare means that middle professional roles (e.g. anyone who is a clinical / therapy assistant) is at risk, and that substantial growth is with low skill jobs (e.g. carers). Presumably the middle ground gets filled with robots, decision support systems, and lesser skilled people following what Susskinds' call systematisation, or systems that are digitally enabled and can be followed by non-specialists. This is hugely important as we have tended to resist the high tech/low touch corner of the matrix, believing healthcare will always be at least high touch.One takes away a few things from the book. The first is whether the professional regulatory system is up to the task and second whether the professions will resist and enforce cartel controls. These two are linked as regulators have tended to be captured by the professions they regulate and therefore tend not to notice that the cat is out of the bag, as it likely in this case. The third is that few in healthcare really understand how digital is working through consumerisation of devices and knowledge (e.g. self-diagnostic kits). Those driving this last are not people who work in healthcare and not captured by the dominant elites that seek to protect the status quo. Much of the 'commons' the Susskinds refer to was not designed to be, but emerged as knowledge was shared and disseminated. I had some experience with helping frame a document dealing specifically with the issue of quality of health information available on the internet, and whether governments should step in to regulate quality. Of course we are well-past this, but the desire to control is inherent in the public service as the internet is 'untidy'. This untidyness is what is now enabling the changes that the book explores very well. Two risks remain to be considered: the first is whether the professions will resist this and simply redefine their roles to maintain (cartel-like) control and prestige and whether the regulatory system will simply re-regulate to protect them. Regulators are monopoly suppliers of regulation and they will act to protect that role.Perhaps the elephant in the room is whether we'll need to revisit Foucault's Birth of the Clinic (a book not referenced by the authors) as patients reclaim their bodies through the digital revolution.

Father and son team, write an extremely well researched book where they try and look into the future. In doing this they explain how we got where we are today, the objections people have to change and why and then based on the patterns we see around us in Technology, Social Media, Artificial Intelligence etc. These are all disruptors to the current profession status quo. Now is the time to stop and think and appraise your current position or get left behind.

I needed this book as part of my research degree literature review. Most books on the subject are dated and this provided an up to date view of professions. The speculation on where professions might go was interesting but, I think, somewhat flawed. Computer based systems are indeed capable of astonishing calculation and evaluation of numbers but where imagination and judgement are needed, not so well placed. Overall, a good read and I would probably have red it even f I was not doing a research degree.

The book read like a text book.And although there was a lot of fascinating information and concepts found on some pages, there was also a lot of repetition and dull writing.However if you’re in the professions and looking to understand what the potential future landscape my look like, this is a must read.If you’re looking for something exciting to read, read a different book.

The professions are not immune to the impact of new technology. This book is a must read if you're about study law, medicine, architecture, etc.

An excellent description of the way IT and robotics will impact on the future but, quite honestly I was able to skip much of the book