100 Books Like The World Is Flat

This book surpasses others in its genre in portraying technological advancements' unintended consequences: disruption of social order and diminished human value. 

A major focus is how humans will co-exist with AI in this brave new world. This theme continues in Lee's co-authored book AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future (2021). This book presents short stories of life in different corners of the world in the age of AI, each followed by a scientific analysis.

Mustafa Suleyman and Kai-fu Lee are leaders in the global pack of scientists behind the technological tsunami. They have roots in rivaling camps and operate in different camps. They are the best testimony to the reality that "nations may be building walls, but the people creating mankind’s next chapter are already operating without walls."

I found this book incredibly powerful because it comes from a true "insider" who helped build the very technology he’s now warning us about.

I love the honesty in his voice; he doesn't sugarcoat how fast this "wave" of change is coming. It made me feel a sense of urgency, but also a sense of responsibility to stay informed. I appreciated that he looked beyond just the "cool gadgets" and talked about how AI will change governments and global power.

It’s a sobering read, but I found it essential for understanding the sheer scale of the transformation we are all living through right now.

I love this book because it covers the same important topic as Friedman’s The World is Flat, but juxtaposes America against the rest of world, and offers the perspective of a geopolitical expert with roots in both the emerging world (India) and the U.S. Zakaria presents an intuitive understanding of the politics, economics, and culture of these vastly different worlds.

In the three years between the 1st and second edition of this book, global developments followed the trajectory he foresaw, only at an even faster pace than he had predicted.

A central message of the book—sustaining a strong America in today’s world cannot be accomplished by hegemonic domination but by embracing international cooperation—has become more pressing than ever.

This book provides the philosophical/spiritual underpinning to a theme present in the preceding four books. But instead of “We’re all in the same boat, so we must put rivalry aside and join hands to ensure our survival,” the Pope would say, “We are all brothers and sisters. While we may fight, we must forgive and embrace each other, for that is our destiny.”

Pope Francis saw himself as pastor of the universal church, extending his ministry to people of all faiths and even no faith. In old age and plagued by disability, he continued to seize each day to carry out his mission of peace-making.

I especially loved that he did not mince words when castigating evildoers in powerful positions. He didn’t name names, but everyone knew who he meant.

I enjoyed this book because it provides a demanding, essential, and controversial reading.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and his long-time co-author Bruce Greenwald make three crucial points: First, learning is the key to innovation and thus to economic and societal progress; second, many of our institutions, especially the strong protection of intellectual property rights often inhibit learning and innovation; and third, openness to trade is not always the best way to promote learning.

Instead, the authors advocate “an infant-economy protection” of the entire manufacturing sector in developing economies.

Whether or not you follow the authors in their conclusions, this book is an intellectual treat for anyone who enjoys a challenging read.

This might well be the least-read book on my list, but I hope that will change soon. Lanham is a Professor of Rhetoric who argues that Andy Warhol was the best economist of attention of the twentieth century, and an exemplar for the economy of the twenty-first, in which value is created through knowledge and attention. Lanham’s inspired distinction between stuff and fluff convincingly demonstrates that the modern economy is more about the experience, style, and packaging of the stuff, rather than the other way around. And that is a good thing. In one of the many digressions in the book he presents Friedrich Hayek as the Dadaist among the economists. This book is a wild ride, with insights on every page. 

As someone who’s spent a career capturing moments, both on film and in digital, I’ve had a front-row seat to the way the internet has upended creative industries. At first, it seemed like a gift. Then, I watched artists lose control of their work, their rights, and their livelihoods. That’s why I decided to push back by founding The American Society for Collective Rights Licensing.

Reading this book felt like having someone finally call out the problem for what it is. It made me think about how much we’ve sacrificed in the name of “progress”.

Do you still have a Facebook account? I do—though I feel increasingly torn about it. I still use it for professional purposes, but part of me would gladly delete it (not, you know, that anything would actually get deleted, I suspect…). Christopher Wylie agrees. This wonderful account traces his role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where a mysterious “political consulting firm” used Facebook data to help swing the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s successful presidential run. It’s a very personal story, which I love, and we get an insider’s view not only on the shocking and frankly terrifying practices Wylie became embroiled in, but also his own moral struggle to get out of them. A wonderful book.

Although published several years ago, this book is a timely investigation about the power of big tech on so many aspects of our lives.

The book focuses to a great extent on the impacts on the music, book, and newspaper industries that have been significantly disrupted by the tech industry. But it also alerts to the larger implications, especially as tech becomes increasingly dominant in our economy, democracy, and lives. 

I met Peter at a conference years ago and will never forget the experience. His vision of the future was unique and compelling.

I found the book, his thinking completely out of the box, and his insight into major forces changing our world without peers. Peter ties money, politics, social change, and trends together, offering a peek into the challenges and direction of the future.