Long the focus of dystopian science fiction, artificial intelligence is now becoming a bigger and bigger part of our daily lives. But what hidden influence is it exerting over the way we do business, use technology, and navigate geopolitics? And what exciting, spooky capabilities might artificial intelligence have in the future? Crack open the seven remarkable reads below to find out.
Meganets: How Digital Forces Beyond Our Control Commandeer Our Daily Lives and Inner Realities
By David B. Auerbach
A technologist explores how the autonomous digital forces jolting our lives—as uncontrollable as the weather and plate tectonics—are transforming life, society, culture, and politics. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author David Auerbach, in the Next Big Idea App
The Datapreneurs: The Promise of AI and the Creators Building Our Future
By Bob Muglia, with Steve Hamm
A long-time Microsoft executive explains how humanity must create a new social contract for the artificial general intelligence (AGI)—autonomous machines intelligent as people—that he expects to arrive in less than a decade. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Bob Muglia, in the Next Big Idea App
The Loop: How Technology Is Creating a World Without Choices and How to Fight Back
By Jacob Ward
This eye-opening narrative journey into the rapidly changing world of artificial intelligence reveals the dangerous ways AI is exploiting the unconscious habits of our minds—and the real threat it poses to humanity. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jacob Ward, in the Next Big Idea App
Trustworthy AI: A Business Guide for Navigating Trust and Ethics in AI
By Beena Ammanath
The founder of Humans for AI delivers a straightforward and structured way to think about trust and ethics in AI, and offers practical guidelines for organizations developing or using artificial intelligence solutions. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Beena Ammanath, in the Next Big Idea App
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
By Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan
In ten gripping short stories, a former president of Google China teams up with a celebrated novelist to imagine our world in 2041 and how it will be shaped by artificial intelligence. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Kai-Fu Lee, in the Next Big Idea App
How Big-Tech Barons Smash Innovation―and How to Strike Back
By Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke
Two market experts deconstruct the drivers and inhibitors to innovation in the digital economy, explain how large tech companies can stifle disruption, and outline policy changes to take power away from big tech and return it to entrepreneurs. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Ariel Ezrachi and Maurice E. Stucke, in the Next Big Idea App
The New Fire: War, Peace, and Democracy in the Age of AI
By Ben Buchanan and Andrew Imbrie
Combining an incisive understanding of technology with shrewd geopolitical analysis, two AI policy experts show how artificial intelligence can work for democracy. With the right approach, technology need not favor tyranny. Listen to the audio version—read by MIT Press Editorial Director Gita Manaktala—in the Next Big Idea App.
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
