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The Second Machine Age

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Paul Mantoux once said: "[It] is precisely the expansion of undeveloped forces, the sudden growth and blossoming of seeds which had for years lain hidden or asleep."

Mantoux was a 19th century historian, and in that quotation, he's describing the Industrial Revolution that swept with steam and soot from London to Lawrence, Massachusetts, and beyond. But Mantoux's words might as well describe the digital revolution we're living in today, where access to technology expands previously "undeveloped forces", and massive computing power leads to "sudden growth and blossoming of seeds" around the world.

Major advances in machine technology sparked both the Industrial and Digital revolutions. But our guests say that the digital transformation we're experiencing is bigger, full of more potential and peril for billions of people.

Guests

Erik Brynjolfsson, co-founder of MIT's new Initiative On The Digital Economy and co-author of, "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies.

Andrew McAfee, co-founder of MIT's new Initiative On The Digital Economy and co-author of, "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies."

Erik and Andrew will be appearing at the Brattle Theater tonight at 6pm as part of a Harvard Bookstore event

This segment aired on February 3, 2014.

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