The Economy of Algorithms by Marek Kowalkiewicz | Black Inc.

The Economy of Algorithms: AI and the Rise of the Digital Minions

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About the author

Marek Kowalkiewicz

Marek Kowalkiewicz is founding director of the Queensland University of Technology Research Centre for the Digital Economy. He joined QUT from Silicon Valley, where he led innovation teams for one of the largest enterprise software vendors in the world. …

More about Marek Kowalkiewicz



Praise for The Economy of Algorithms

‘Professor Kowalkiewicz’s book is an eye opener about how ubiquitous digital helpers and algorithms have become in our daily lives. This book is right on time for us to understand more of the good, the bad and the ugly of algorithms.’—Mario Herger, technology trend researcher and author of Gamification at Work

‘Professor Kowalkiewicz has written a fantastic and timely book on the opportunities and risks of algorithms in our lives. In simple and often humorous ways, he connects the dots on a topic that is deserving of much greater attention. Software-based automation is playing a greater role today than many of us realise, and its ability to both positively augment and negatively disrupt our lives is starkly laid out. The book is full of great examples and stories that remove much of the complexity and make the reading fun and insightful from start to finish. It concludes with a series of much needed recommendations that, despite all the challenges he identifies throughout the book, provides guidance on how we can all learn to live and prosper with our digital minions.’ —Dr Jonathan Reichental, founder and CEO of Human Future and author of Smart Cities for Dummies

‘Professor Kowalkiewicz has written a very accessible book for anyone interested in the long-term opportunities for businesses, individuals and society as technology penetrates ever more corners of the economy and our lives. His global examples of the application of software to solve novel problems are enlightening, informative and encouraging.’ —Simon Dale, Vice-President, Adobe

‘AI appears to be eating the world. How then to understand where this is taking us, both the promises and the threats? This book is for you. A down to earth tour that will help you understand how the algorithms are increasingly taking on human roles.’ —Toby Walsh, Chief Scientist at the UNSW AI Institute and author of Machines Behaving Badly

‘A damn-well written book ... Marek provides a very thrilling, entertaining whirlwind tour of the different AI algorithms and examples of their industry applications, including the implications they have on everyone's everyday life and the overall workforce. This is the book I will, from now on, recommend to anyone who wants to understand the implications that a new generation of AI-powered algorithms will have on the human society, and how to best work together with them – from my children, to laypeople, to the data scientists in the field of manufacturing intelligence.’ —Tobias Lange, Senior Vice President, Siemens Digital Industries Software

‘AI and algorithms are reshaping our world at an unprecedented pace, with buzzwords like neural networks, deep learning and transformers dominating the headlines. But what significance do these terms hold for you? Professor Kowalkiewicz’s eagerly awaited book provides clear and accessible answers to this question.’ —Chong Wang, AI Research scientist, Apple Inc.

‘Through an entertaining collection of stories and lessons, Kowalkiewicz deftly charts the so-called ‘march of the algorithms’ and how they have come to dominate so much of our world and decision making. Whether you're trying to minimise the impact of algorithms or leverage their opportunity, this is an optimistic guide to tilting our modern economy of algorithms toward opportunity instead of disaster.’ —Rohit Bhargava, author of Non-Obvious Megatrends