The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts, Updated Edition
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- Create Date：2022-07-20 06:51:40
- Update Date：2025-09-13
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- Author：Richard Susskind
- ISBN：0198841892
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Summary
This book predicts the decline of today's professions and introduces the people and systems that will replace them。 In an internet-enhanced society， according to Richard Susskind and Daniel Susskind， we will neither need nor want doctors， teachers， accountants， architects， the clergy， consultants， lawyers， and many others， to work as they did in the 20th century。
The Future of the Professions explains how increasingly capable technologies - from telepresence to artificial intelligence - will place the 'practical expertise' of the finest specialists at the fingertips of everyone， often at no or low cost and without face-to-face interaction。
The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' - the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals。 They argue that our current professions are antiquated， opaque and no longer affordable， and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few。 In their place， they propose five new models for producing and distributing expertise in society。
The book raises profound policy issues， not least about employment （they envisage a new generation of 'open-collared workers'） and about control over online expertise （they warn of new 'gatekeepers'） - in an era when machines become more capable than human beings at most tasks。
With a new preface exploring recent critical developments， this updated edition builds on the authors' groundbreaking research into more than a dozen professions。 Illustrated with numerous examples from each， this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century。
The Future of the Professions explains how increasingly capable technologies - from telepresence to artificial intelligence - will place the 'practical expertise' of the finest specialists at the fingertips of everyone， often at no or low cost and without face-to-face interaction。
The authors challenge the 'grand bargain' - the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals。 They argue that our current professions are antiquated， opaque and no longer affordable， and that the expertise of their best is enjoyed only by a few。 In their place， they propose five new models for producing and distributing expertise in society。
The book raises profound policy issues， not least about employment （they envisage a new generation of 'open-collared workers'） and about control over online expertise （they warn of new 'gatekeepers'） - in an era when machines become more capable than human beings at most tasks。
With a new preface exploring recent critical developments， this updated edition builds on the authors' groundbreaking research into more than a dozen professions。 Illustrated with numerous examples from each， this is the first book to assess and question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century。
Reviews
Amy
，
A bit of a telling act and repetitive。 However， some interesting points to think about: what kind of future do we want to create？ Why should we have a knowledge monopoly， if we can share it with everyone （online） nowadays？ Especially a recommendation for everyone who feels threatened by the technology revolution！
Isabella
，
Highly recommend to fellow lawyers！ Let’s think deeply about our profession and how to make legal advice better accessible。 Decentralised law is not so far any more。
Ivorana
，
Fave take out， as reminder for myself : "You don’t lose what you know when you share your knowledge with someone else"。 Fave take out， as reminder for myself : "You don’t lose what you know when you share your knowledge with someone else"。 。。。more
Faith Akwo
，
Futuristic， eye opening。。。
Lena Rakhimova
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The more I think about this book and read other related books the more I love this book。 It has a well-thought arguments， research and ideas。 In the beginning i thought it was too obvious and slightly dull。 But closer it gets to the end the more interesting it gets。 Most of other books are about technology/AI is either too optimistic or too pessimistic。 While this book looks at all sides of professions and technology/AI。 For example， yes， empathy is important for us， but would a client prefer an The more I think about this book and read other related books the more I love this book。 It has a well-thought arguments， research and ideas。 In the beginning i thought it was too obvious and slightly dull。 But closer it gets to the end the more interesting it gets。 Most of other books are about technology/AI is either too optimistic or too pessimistic。 While this book looks at all sides of professions and technology/AI。 For example， yes， empathy is important for us， but would a client prefer an available fast AI’s help than to wait three weeks for an unavailable “probably-empathic” service of a person。 Startups will not build big AIs but rather micro AI services to replace easy workflows。 It will be a flood of services which are available instantly and 24 hours per day for first- and second- level help which is quite enough in many cases。 Therefore professions will be divided into smaller chunks of work。 So jobs will be available in the future but it is not yet decided what kind of it and how well paid。 In my point of view the main idea of the book is that we should rethink already now how can each profession be divided into pieces which can be automated while leaving the best and interesting pieces for ourselves。 Imagine what you really want to do and make it so by using AI as a friend。 This book is probably could be applied not only to these days but to some more transformational periods in our history。 。。。more
Mario Riontino
，
Impressive to read how many predictions from this book turned out to be true during COVID。 However， I am not sure how helpful it will be right now。
Philip Mlonyeni
，
Teknooptimisme for Oxfordfuckboys
Joe Higgs
，
Listening to this and realising it was written 10 years ago has forced me to revisit my original 3* review。 They predicted and got quite a few things spot on and things are increasingly changing。 As a teacher， I still take issue with how a lot of people simplify teaching to the use of Khan Academy and online platforms。 There are still a lot of things robots and technology are unable to do that teachers can。 I do believe that while technology will improve the potential and lighten the workload of Listening to this and realising it was written 10 years ago has forced me to revisit my original 3* review。 They predicted and got quite a few things spot on and things are increasingly changing。 As a teacher， I still take issue with how a lot of people simplify teaching to the use of Khan Academy and online platforms。 There are still a lot of things robots and technology are unable to do that teachers can。 I do believe that while technology will improve the potential and lighten the workload of teachers， I firmly believe there will always be a place for schools and human leadership of them， even if staffing numbers are reduced and the system made more efficient。 。。。more
Ghengis
，
I listened to this as an audiobook。 There is considerable repetition of the key ideas between chapters， I assume to accommodate people who read selected chapters rather than the whole book from start to finish， but this repetition can get annoying。 The key ideas are solid: the only question will be how quickly they are implemented。 Covid has perhaps speeded up the process。 The book strikes a rather depressing tone， and perhaps fails to identify the number of new jobs created instead focusing on I listened to this as an audiobook。 There is considerable repetition of the key ideas between chapters， I assume to accommodate people who read selected chapters rather than the whole book from start to finish， but this repetition can get annoying。 The key ideas are solid: the only question will be how quickly they are implemented。 Covid has perhaps speeded up the process。 The book strikes a rather depressing tone， and perhaps fails to identify the number of new jobs created instead focusing on the jobs destroyed by the digital revolution。 。。。more
Rob Tring
，
Great summary of the history of the professions and insightful predictions for the future。 Interested to read a follow up to this book （it was published in 2016）。
Chris Moorhead
，
Very detailed account of the possibilities of the near and far future replacement of professional labour by machines and AI。 Definitely food for thought and worth pouring back over to contemplate。 The book is， as most things with AI， slightly out of dare after not so many years， but the case studies are very solid。 A must read for people who want to understand the path of society during the slow revolution of AI。
Thomas Devlin
，
Interesting enough but certainly not groundbreaking。 The most interesting idea they talk about is how the internet is breaking down the monopolisation of knowledge by professionals， but the discussion on automation doesn’t add much to the existing debate。
Adrian
，
A decent overview of how changes in technology will lead to evolutions in the professions， specifically medicine， education， law and consulting。tOne who follows modern publications such as The Economist may be very familiar with the evolving nature of techological transformations， but the strength of this book is the depth and broad-ranging nature of the coverage。tAs this is familiar to this reader， the book could seem a little too elaborative at times， but can serve as a decent refresher on a v A decent overview of how changes in technology will lead to evolutions in the professions， specifically medicine， education， law and consulting。tOne who follows modern publications such as The Economist may be very familiar with the evolving nature of techological transformations， but the strength of this book is the depth and broad-ranging nature of the coverage。tAs this is familiar to this reader， the book could seem a little too elaborative at times， but can serve as a decent refresher on a very important subject。 。。。more
Alex
，
Academic book with a well-developed argument and very though-provoking ideas。 It gets very repetitive from about halfway through and I think its so much so that it detracts from the argument。 I do understand though that the authors feel the need to defend their argument given the gravity of it。
Andréa
，
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley。
Daniel M20 Blackburn
，
Great content， so detailed in the analysis of important questions。 Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and I am highly recommending it。
Vlad Ionut
，
It is a good book。 It treats an obvious topic in an academic style。
Anwar Maricar
，
The world of traditional professions are changed for-ever by the advent of the Artificial Inteligence （AI）。 This covid-19 pandemic is proof that machine learning and robotics are in play all over the world。
Clare Russell
，
I found the premise of this interesting and am fascinated by the automation/transformation dichotomy。 Clearly the impact of technology will have far reaching impacts on working lives。 Some of their critiques of professional groups were well made。 However I found the concept of ‘commons’ idealistic。 We are currently living through an age of disinformation with little distinction between true/quality and false information。 Now more than ever we need the distinction that professional approaches to I found the premise of this interesting and am fascinated by the automation/transformation dichotomy。 Clearly the impact of technology will have far reaching impacts on working lives。 Some of their critiques of professional groups were well made。 However I found the concept of ‘commons’ idealistic。 We are currently living through an age of disinformation with little distinction between true/quality and false information。 Now more than ever we need the distinction that professional approaches to information brings 。。。more
Charlie
，
I enjoyed Tomorrow’s Lawyers by this author， but frankly I did not enjoy this book - it's a perfect example of a book with too broad of a scope， resulting in laundry lists of ideas in place of substantive details。 Regarding the actual argument， I accept that tech is going to change how work will look in the coming decades， but the authors fail to adequately consider two key challenges to this trend: 1） the influence of incumbent， monied interests and 2） the risks and downsides of technology。 The I enjoyed Tomorrow’s Lawyers by this author， but frankly I did not enjoy this book - it's a perfect example of a book with too broad of a scope， resulting in laundry lists of ideas in place of substantive details。 Regarding the actual argument， I accept that tech is going to change how work will look in the coming decades， but the authors fail to adequately consider two key challenges to this trend: 1） the influence of incumbent， monied interests and 2） the risks and downsides of technology。 The only path I see to tech actually replacing people in the workplace （as the authors argue） is if AI becomes smarter than humanity and starts to compete with us。 And if （when？） that happens， I think we’ll have much bigger problems on our hands than losing a few law and medicine jobs。 。。。more
Miky
，
If I could be more specific on rating， I would give this book 2 stars and a half。 The ideas described were thought-provoking， however， the writing style wasn't the most engaging one。 Still， there were some interesting examples of technologies that replaced human activity and I have made a list o websites and resources that I would like to check out further。 If I could be more specific on rating， I would give this book 2 stars and a half。 The ideas described were thought-provoking， however， the writing style wasn't the most engaging one。 Still， there were some interesting examples of technologies that replaced human activity and I have made a list o websites and resources that I would like to check out further。 。。。more
Sam
，
The Future Of the Professions was marketed as a casual non-fiction read。 What I found instead was a text-book of sorts; thick and dense as it was。 It didn't make reading it any less insightful。 But it soon became a chore unpacking the implications of the events and changes described therein。I truly believe it would have been difficult making the sort of predictions the father-son pair made while achieving even the slightest bit of accuracy。 And yet， they did。 In large part by observing the impac The Future Of the Professions was marketed as a casual non-fiction read。 What I found instead was a text-book of sorts; thick and dense as it was。 It didn't make reading it any less insightful。 But it soon became a chore unpacking the implications of the events and changes described therein。I truly believe it would have been difficult making the sort of predictions the father-son pair made while achieving even the slightest bit of accuracy。 And yet， they did。 In large part by observing the impacts of technology at that time （2015） and somewhat guessing （rather deductively） what path the future would take。 I wouldn't believe it fair to not remark on the vast research （as evidenced by the bibliography） they undertook to arrive at their conclusions and so believe it worthwhile mentioning this。 They were indeed thorough。The book seems to be divided into two parts: The beginning and everything else。 The first introductory aspects of the book （at least in my opinion） felt wildly contradictory， if not incoherent。 There was also an obvious lack of voice。 All this may have been the price paid for writing a book with two authors while trying its best to maintain some aspect of technical and logical rigor。Despite all this， I found it wildly informative。 The premise of the book "that technology would destabilize， decentralize， and liberalize the professions" was something I already believed to be true。 The arguments would strike me as valid while the motivations behind the arguments would strike me as somewhat self-serving。 It often felt like I was reading two lobbyists appeal to a government。 I would sometimes delve in to see the motivations behind their arguments and end up with nothing more than supply-sided arguments based on the merits of efficiency for businesses and great products for the consumers。 As we're all currently undergoing a pandemic， and technologies like Remote Working have taken off， I'm also very aware of the fact that the inevitability through incrementalism described in the book was largely wrong。 As if overnight， we see nations like the US have close to half its workers working from home。 The one flaw in their argument then was the belief that technological adoption would come about due to efficiency。 It largely removed the role of society and hence crisis in influencing the path technology would take and instead relegated any sort of change taking place through the unidirectional lense of business/market to society。This book as such serves as a great point of reference for questions about the future of work， but not necessarily as an intriguing read that would at least have made the content of the book much more enjoyable to digest。 。。。more
Nikita Umov
，
Huvitav raamat， mis kirjeldab seda， kuidas on võimalik profesionaalse teenuse （arst， jurist， haridus jne） kättesaadavust suurendada。 Seda peamiselt selle läbi， et muutub informatsiooni， teadmiste （nn practical expertise edastuse viis。 Kõike ei ole vaja edastada profesionaali poolt （kogenud arsti või õpetaja） poolt näost-näkku。 Informatsiooni võib edastada ka para-professional， kelle käsutuses olevad infotehnoloogilised lahendused ning olemasoleva kogemuse baasil võimaldab osutada samatasemelist Huvitav raamat， mis kirjeldab seda， kuidas on võimalik profesionaalse teenuse （arst， jurist， haridus jne） kättesaadavust suurendada。 Seda peamiselt selle läbi， et muutub informatsiooni， teadmiste （nn practical expertise edastuse viis。 Kõike ei ole vaja edastada profesionaali poolt （kogenud arsti või õpetaja） poolt näost-näkku。 Informatsiooni võib edastada ka para-professional， kelle käsutuses olevad infotehnoloogilised lahendused ning olemasoleva kogemuse baasil võimaldab osutada samatasemelist teenust nagu profesionaal。 Suure osa tööst on võimalik automatiseerida。 Eesti kontekstis ei muretse me tuludeklaratsiooni esitamise pärast üldse， sest enamus tööst on meie eest ära tehtud。 Kõige huvitavam koht on see， mil me jõuame aega， kus me suudame ennetada， mitte reageerida õnnetustele。 Arsti vaatevinklist võib olla "äge" südameinfarkti ravi - saab südameveresooni avada， patsient on intensiivis jne。 Mis siis， kui elaksime maailmas， kus haiglaid ei ole vaja？ 。。。more
Ray LaManna
，
This book left me inspired AND upset sometimes at the same time。 While the authors outlined in great detail some of the ways in which the professions will change in the coming decades， primarily through increased computing power and AI capabilities， I was turned off by their arrogance that， in the future， we will have almost no need of professionals。In their mind machines and paraprofessionals will take the place of highly skilled professionals and at little or no cost。 Rather arrogant I would s This book left me inspired AND upset sometimes at the same time。 While the authors outlined in great detail some of the ways in which the professions will change in the coming decades， primarily through increased computing power and AI capabilities， I was turned off by their arrogance that， in the future， we will have almost no need of professionals。In their mind machines and paraprofessionals will take the place of highly skilled professionals and at little or no cost。 Rather arrogant I would say。 Who will do the ongoing research to improve on our store of knowledge--machines solely？ I don't believe it。 These authors are rather flippant about how beside the point professionals in almost all fields will be。 I don't buy it。。。while I firmly believe that AI will take over many tasks， we humans will have much to add to this world。 。。。more
Kat
，
Disapointed
Jonny Brick
，
A lifetime's work distilled into a book by Prof Susskind， whose son Daniel is in the family business。 I now know what a para-professional is。 Daniel's new book A World Without Work may be the Book of the Year。 This is a good journey into the problems the professions - law， consultancy， teaching - now face。 A lifetime's work distilled into a book by Prof Susskind， whose son Daniel is in the family business。 I now know what a para-professional is。 Daniel's new book A World Without Work may be the Book of the Year。 This is a good journey into the problems the professions - law， consultancy， teaching - now face。 。。。more
gaverne Bennett
，
This is one of the greatest books of the early twenty-first century。 YOU MUST READ。。。
N。Muralidharan
，
The author has provided lot of details on how some of the professions have emerged and taking clue from that has tried to project how future of professions are likely to be。 While some of the views are interesting and I also agree that machines will automate some tasks that humans do， the author is not very convincing to state that this will radically change in decades to come。 While no one can project what happens in decades， keeping a clue of how we are in 2020 （when I read this book） to 2016 The author has provided lot of details on how some of the professions have emerged and taking clue from that has tried to project how future of professions are likely to be。 While some of the views are interesting and I also agree that machines will automate some tasks that humans do， the author is not very convincing to state that this will radically change in decades to come。 While no one can project what happens in decades， keeping a clue of how we are in 2020 （when I read this book） to 2016 when the book was written and the book expected few things to happen by 2020， the changes are happening in snail pace。 One important aspect that the author has not considered is that the service recipient is equally slow to adopt to changes （status quo bias） and this will derail the process of adoption on machine led delivery to larger public。 Having said this， over all the book is a brave attempt to look at future and look back at what each professional has to do to realign themself for the changes expected。 。。。more
William O'Hanley
，
breathless and techno-utopian
Kevin Mccormick
，