Our Next Reality

Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781399812245

Price: £24.99

ON SALE: 6th June 2024

Genre: Economics, Finance, Business & Management

Disclosure: If you buy products using the retailer buttons above, we may earn a commission from the retailers you visit.

Our Next Reality does a fantastic job of giving a balanced and insightful analysis to some of the most pressing questions our society will face in the near future. The material is data driven, digestible, and very actionable.” RAY KURZWEIL, Author/Entrepreneur/Futurist

“A wide-reaching exploration of the intersections between AI, VR and AR: it’s a mind-opener, and a source of reflection on how transformative and still unknown the future of communication, personal technology and even personal privacy might become.” SCOTT STEIN, Editor at Large, CNET

Over the last 100 years, technology has changed our world. Over the next decade it will transform our reality.

We are entering a new technological age in which artificial intelligence and immersive media will transform society at all levels, mediating our lives by altering what we see, hear, and experience. Powered by immersive eyewear and driven by interactive AI agents, this new age of computing has the potential to make our world a magical place where the boundaries between the real and the virtual, the human and the artificial, rapidly fade away. If managed well, this could unleash a new age of abundance. If managed poorly, this technological revolution could easily go astray, deeply compromising our privacy, autonomy, agency, and even our humanity.

In Our Next Reality, two industry veterans provide a data-driven debate on whether the new world we’re creating will be a technological utopia or an AI-powered dystopia and give guidance on how to aim for the best future we can. With a Foreword by renowned author Neal Stephenson and section contributions from industry thought-leaders such as Peter H. Diamandis, Tom Furness, Phillip Rosedale, Tony Parisi, Avi Bar Zeev and Walter Parkes, this book answers over a dozen of the most pressing questions we face as artificial intelligence and spatial computing accelerates the digitization of our world. Find out why our actions in the next decade could determine the trajectory of our species for countless millennia.

“For anyone who wants to use AI and XR to help build the future, read this book to help you skillfully navigate a future of unprecedented danger and promise.” JASON HINER, Editor in Chief, ZDNet

Our Next Reality really is a must-read for anyone who wants to prepare for the massive AI and XR driven disruption coming our way.” CHARLIE FINK, Author | Adjunct | Forbes Tech Columnist

Reviews

"Our Next Reality breaks new ground by exploring both good and bad possible outcomes of widespread deployment of an AI-powered Metaverse."
Neal Stephenson, Author and Chairman/Co-Founder, Lamina1
"AI + XR = ABUNDANCE. For decades we've been promised Ready Player One, and only got mediocre game play. Now, finally, AI has the potential to deliver a 'user-interface moment' that transforms virtual and augmented reality, making it essential across all human endeavors from education and health to entertainment and dating. This book brings clarity to this potential, as well as a balanced perspective of both the benefits and the risks that really matter. It left me hopeful for the potentially abundant world that is described and informed on how I can play a role at this critical moment. Two thumbs up to Our Next Reality!"
Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Founder/Chair, XPRIZE & Singularity. Author, Abundance, BOLD, Future is Faster Than You Think
"Today, hundreds of millions of people spend most of their waking hours in a world of digital content. Tomorrow, they'll be in an immersive metaverse. Graylin and Rosenberg draw on their deep expertise to explain how this will transform business, culture, education, economics, and the human condition itself. If you want to understand the future ahead of us, you need to read this book."
Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and co-author of The Second Machine Age
"In 'Our Next Reality', Graylin and Rosenberg brilliantly navigate the profound influence of artificial intelligence and immersive computing on our society in the coming decade. These two experts, each with over three decades of expertise, has crafted a nuanced debate on the technology's promises and pitfalls. It's a truly thought provoking read."
Dr. Tom Furness, Professor (Emeritus) University of Washington | 'Grandfather of VR'
"Our Next Reality provides a provocative, thoughtful, and optimistic yet realistic view of our future. It paints a picture of convergent paths with symbiotic AI where human agency can be retained."
Dava Newman, Director, MIT Media Lab, Former NASA Deputy Administrator
"Since the 1990s, I've been writing about how technology will completely transform our lives in the coming decades. That future of abundance appears more eminent than ever. In Our Next Reality, Alvin and Louis have done a fantastic job of giving a balanced and insightful analysis to some of the most pressing questions our society will face in the near future. The material is data driven, digestible, and very actionable."
Ray Kurzweil, Author/Entrepreneur/Futurist
"A new wave of technology advances powered by AI and XR are going to transform our life, work, and communities on a greater scale than the tech of the past. I'm grateful that Alvin and Louis have anticipated this by giving us a deeply thoughtful exploration of their possible impacts. This could help us avoid some of the negative consequences that have snuck up on us with smartphones and social media, for example. For anyone who wants to use AI and XR to help build the future, read this book to help you skillfully navigate a future of unprecedented danger and promise."
Jason Hiner, Editor in Chief, ZDNet
"Our Next Reality, by Graylin and Rosenberg, takes a deep dive into the Metaverse and AI's transformative impact. The book skillfully combines technological insights with ethical considerations, guiding readers through competing visions of utopia and dystopia. It's an essential read for those interested in the intersection of technology and society, and how AI is shaping our collective future."
M. David Rice, Professor, Executive Director of the Future of Marketing Institute, York University
"I've been covering the tech industry for over a decade, wrote three books on immersive media and teach college courses on the topic, but still came away learning many things from this book. Our Next Reality really is a must-read for anyone who wants to prepare for the massive AI and XR driven disruption coming our way."
Charlie Fink, Author | Adjunct | Forbes Tech Columnist
"A wide-reaching exploration of the intersections between AI, VR and AR: it's a mind-opener, and a source of reflection on how transformative and still unknown the future of communication, personal technology and even personal privacy might become."
Scott Stein, Editor at Large, CNET
"Graylin and Rosenberg have pulled off a rare feat: they've written a fantastically accessible and thoroughly engaging book that traverses the past, present and potential futures of the key technologies that will redefine our world. With decades of experience in these fields, and a talent for balancing insight, ingenuity and credible curiosity, they have crafted a book that can be enjoyed by both those who already think deeply about the subject, as well as those who don't have any background on AI or the metaverse."
Blake J. Harris, author of ‘The History of the Future’ and ‘Console Wars’
"I really liked Our Next Reality. There was lots of stuff about immersive tech I had not heard before. Like the authors, I believe that there is no alternative reality without cheap pervasive AI. Overall, it was a very worthwhile read."
Kevin Kelly, best-selling author, editor and futurist