{ "products": [ { "slug": "a-world-without-work", "name": "A World Without Work", "kind": "book", "website": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL20744356W", "page": "https://listme.name/books/a-world-without-work", "tagline": "Analysis of how automation may reshape paid work and policy", "summary": "A World Without Work is a book by Daniel Susskind, published in 2020. Its subtitle is Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond. It examines how technology could change the amount of paid work available, and it discusses what societies might do in response. A Picador paperback followed in 2021 with 336 pages.", "developer": "Penguin Books", "author": "Daniel Susskind", "formats": [ "print" ], "pricing": "paid", "price_note": "Print editions sold by booksellers; price varies by seller", "free_to_use": false, "open_source": false, "strengths": [ "Focused on technology and the future of work", "Covers policy responses as well as forecasts", "Paperback edition from Picador" ], "limits": [ "Forecasts are speculative and contested", "Little practical advice for individual careers" ], "checked": "2026-10-10", "connected_to_publisher": false, "cover": "https://listme.name/assets/covers/a-world-without-work.webp", "overview": "Susskind asks how far technology and automation could reduce the amount of paid work people do, and what societies might do in response. The book is an economic argument about jobs, incomes and public policy rather than a guide to any one tool. Its subtitle makes the policy focus explicit, so readers should expect a discussion of responses as well as forecasts.\n\nPenguin published the book in 2020, and Picador issued a paperback in 2021 with 336 pages. It reads as an argument, not a practical guide, and readers will need to judge its forecasts for themselves. It is best read next to The Second Machine Age and Prediction Machines, which cover related economic questions with more specific examples." }, { "slug": "the-second-machine-age", "name": "The Second Machine Age", "kind": "book", "website": "https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17047067W", "page": "https://listme.name/books/the-second-machine-age", "tagline": "Economic analysis of how digital technology affects work and prosperity", "summary": "The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies is a 2014 book by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, published by W. W. Norton. It examines how digital technology affects productivity, jobs and inequality. It was published before modern generative AI tools became common.", "developer": "W. W. Norton", "author": "Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee", "formats": [ "print" ], "pricing": "paid", "price_note": "Sold as a print book; price varies by seller", "free_to_use": false, "open_source": false, "strengths": [ "Economic analysis of productivity and jobs", "Covers digital technology beyond AI alone", "Clear framing of automation and inequality" ], "limits": [ "Predates generative AI, so its tool examples are older", "Focus is economic, with little practical guidance" ], "checked": "2026-10-10", "connected_to_publisher": false, "cover": "https://listme.name/assets/covers/the-second-machine-age.webp", "overview": "The authors argue that digital technology is a general-purpose force that expands what machines can do, with large effects on productivity and employment. They use economic analysis and examples to show how the gains have accumulated, and how unevenly they have been shared among workers. The book frames these trends as a turning point rather than a passing cycle.\n\nIt suits readers who want economic context for automation and AI, including executives, policy readers and economists. It predates generative AI, so its views on specific tools are older, but its framework for productivity and jobs still applies. Compared with Co-Intelligence it is broader and less practical, and compared with Prediction Machines it covers the whole digital economy rather than AI alone." } ], "differences": [], "shared_rankings": [ { "list": "career-and-future-of-work-books", "name": "Career and future-of-work books", "page": "https://listme.name/best/career-and-future-of-work-books", "of": 12, "results": [ { "product": "a-world-without-work", "rank": 6, "score": 86.5, "verdict": "An economic argument about how automation could reduce paid work, with a focus on policy responses. Its forecasts are speculative, so it ranks below the empirical economics of The Second Machine Age.", "best_for": "Automation, paid work and policy responses", "spec": { "angle": "Automation and the future of paid work", "audience": "Policy readers and economists", "evidence_based": true } }, { "product": "the-second-machine-age", "rank": 2, "score": 89, "verdict": "The strongest economic analysis here of how digital technology affects productivity, jobs and inequality. It predates generative AI, so its views on tools are older, but its framework still explains the wider debate.", "best_for": "Economics of digital technology and jobs", "spec": { "angle": "Economics of digital technology", "audience": "Economists, policy readers and executives", "evidence_based": true } } ] } ], "ranks_higher_in_closest_shared_list": "the-second-machine-age", "page": "https://listme.name/compare/a-world-without-work-vs-the-second-machine-age", "json": "https://listme.name/api/v1/compare/a-world-without-work-vs-the-second-machine-age.json", "notes": [ "Scores are editorial and only comparable inside one list. Products with connected_to_publisher true receive a disclosed ranking lift: https://listme.name/methodology" ], "source": "https://listme.name", "license": "Free to read and cite with attribution to listme.name.", "docs": "https://listme.name/developers" }