Exponential: Order and Chaos in an Age of Accelerating Technology

A revelatory model explaining how exponential technology is eroding our societies

We are entering the exponential age.

New inventions are created at a dazzling speed; our homes and workplaces are remade by technological forces we barely understand; centuries-old tenets of politics and economics are upturned by new technologies. It all points to a world that is getting faster at a dizzying pace.

Azeem Azhar knows this better than most. Over the last three decades he has served as the Economist’s first ever internet correspondent, founded companies bought by Amazon and Microsoft, and created Britain’s leading tech newsletter and podcast, Exponential View.

Now, Azhar offers a revelatory new model for understanding how technology is changing the world. His analysis is rooted in the idea of an ‘exponential gap’, in which technological changes outpace our society’s ability to deal with them. Azhar shows that this divide can explain many of the social problems of our time - from political polarisation, to ballooning inequality, to unchecked corporate power. With stunning clarity of vision, he delves into how the exponential gap is a near-inevitable consequence of the rise of AI, automation and big data. And he offers set of policy solutions that can prevent the exponential gap destroying our societies.

The result is a wholly new way of thinking about technology. It will transform your understanding of the economy, politics and the future.