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Summary The Inevitable, ISBN: 9780698183650 International Creative Business
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Summary of every force mentioned by Kevin Kelly in his book and two main key takeaways at the end.
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INTRODUCTIONThe 12 forces are technological, they will affect aspects life. Despite some issues, we will have more
convenient lives with more opportunities and precisely personalised services. One definition of “inevitable”
is the final outcome in the classic rewinding thought experiment. There is bias in the nature of technology
that tilts it in certain directions and not others. All things being equal, the physics and mathematics that rule
the dynamics of technology tend to favour certain behaviours. These tendencies exist primarily in the
aggregate forces that shape the general contours of technological forms and do not govern specifics or
particular instances. For example, the form of an internet—a network of networks spanning the globe—was
inevitable, but the specific kind of internet we chose to have was not. The internet could have been
commercial rather than nonprofit, or a national system instead of international, or it could have been secret
instead of public. Telephony—long-distance electrically transmitted voice messages—was inevitable, but the
iPhone was not. The generic form of a four-wheeled vehicle was inevitable, but SUVs were not. Instant
messaging was inevitable, but tweeting every five minutes was not. The kind of inevitability I am speaking
of here in the digital realm is the result of momentum. The momentum of an ongoing technological shift. The
strong tides that shaped digital technologies for the past 30 years will continue to expand and harden in the
next 30 years. These apply to not just North America, but to the entire world.
Massive copying is here to stay. Massive tracking and total surveillance is here to stay. Ownership is shifting
away. Virtual reality is becoming real. We can’t stop artificial intelligences and robots from improving,
creating new businesses, and taking our current jobs. It may be against our initial impulse, but we should
embrace the perpetual remixing of these technologies. Only by working with these technologies, rather than
trying to thwart them, can we gain the best of what they have to offer.
Change is inevitable. We now appreciate that everything is mutable and undergoing change, even though
much of this alteration is imperceptible. The highest mountains are slowly wearing away under our feet,
while every animal and plant species on the planet is morphing into something different in ultra slow motion.
Even the eternal shining sun is fading on an astronomical schedule, though we will be long gone when it
does. Human culture, and biology too, are part of this imperceptible slide toward something new. At the
centre of every significant change in our lives today is a technology of some sort. Technology is humanity’s
accelerant. Because of technology everything we make is always in the process of becoming. Every kind of
thing is becoming something else, while it churns from “might” to “is.” All is flux. Nothing is finished.
Nothing is done. This never-ending change is the pivotal axis of the modern world.
Upon this relentless change all the disruptions of modernity ride. I’ve waded through the myriad
technological forces erupting into the present and I’ve sorted their change into 12 verbs, such as accessing,
tracking, and sharing. To be more accurate, these are not just verbs, but present participles, the grammatical
form that conveys continuous action. These forces are accelerating actions. Each of these 12 continuous
actions is an ongoing trend that shows all evidence of continuing for at least three more decades. I call these
metatrends “inevitable” because they are rooted in the nature of technology, rather than in the nature of
society. The character of the verbs follows the biases present in the new technologies, a bias all technologies
share. While we creators have much choice and responsibility in steering technologies, there is also much
about a technology that is outside of our control. Particular technological processes will inherently favour
particular outcomes. These organising verbs represent the metachanges in our culture for the foreseeable near
future. They are broad strokes already operating in the world today. I make no attempt to predict which
specific products will prevail next year or the next decade, let alone which companies will triumph. These
specifics are decided by fads, fashion, and commerce, and are wholly unpredictable. But the general trends
of the products and services in 30 years are currently visible. Their basic forms are rooted in directions
generated by emerging technologies now on their way to ubiquity. This wide, fast-moving system of
technology bends the culture subtly, but steadily, so it amplifies the following forces: Becoming, Cognifying,
Flowing, Screening, Accessing, Sharing, Filtering, Remixing, Interacting, Tracking, Questioning, and then
Beginning. While I devote a chapter to each motion, they are not discrete verbs operating in solo. Rather they
are highly overlapping forces, each codependent upon and mutually accelerating the others. It becomes
difficult to speak of one without referring to the others at the same time. Increased sharing both encourages
increased flowing and depends upon it. Cognifying requires tracking. Screening is inseparable from
interacting. The verbs themselves are remixed, and all of these actions are variations on the process of
becoming. They are a unified field of motion. These forces are trajectories, not destinies. They offer no
predictions of where we end up. They tell us simply that in the near future we are headed inevitably in these
directions.
, 1. Becoming - Technology is constantly improving and always in flux
We are living in a protopia, a world that continually is changing and improving. Put it differently, it’s always
in a state of becoming. We are constant newbies in this protopia and need to keep learning and adapting to
the fast-changing environments. Our entrepreneur-driven society can never become something. Its very
essence is the essence of constant change, something always giving birth to something new. Not unmoving
utopia, nor dying dystopia – but a protopia. In a protopia, things are always a bit better today than yesterday.
For instance, even if some inventions produce problems such as higher energy demands, the benefits always
outweigh the costs. But living in a protopia also means that nothing is fixed. Technology moves forward,
accelerating progress. To put it differently, everything is in a state of becoming – which means you and
everyone else will always be “newbies” in this ever-evolving technological world. No invention is ever
finalised or fixed if each invention is a starting point for another invention or development. Just think of how
the advent of personal computers paved the way for the internet. Basically, all human technology is
permanently moving forward, and this process, in which every innovation has the potential to trigger another
innovation, will never be straightforward or predictable. Because of this, the best predictions we can make
about future events are generalised trends. And since technology never stops improving, you’ll always feel
like a newcomer no matter what you learned or experienced in the past. You’ll have to upgrade your devices
to adapt to the evolving digital landscape – and we all know how long it takes to get used to new technology.
Your permanent newbie status is also a result of the decreasing longevity of devices and software, which
means you likely won’t get to spend enough time with any technology to truly master it. For example, the
average lifespan of a smartphone app – the amount of time it takes a user to stop using the technology – is
now 30 days. So we now know that technology, especially information technology, never stops moving
forward. Next, we’ll explore how this fact is tied to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.
I remember connecting to the internet via personal computers when I was in high school, and now I’m
connected to the internet on my mobile phone and can pay my bills on my mobile and even set them up to be
paid automatically. Recently I had a debate if robots will have rights. I believe I’m living in a protopia, and
it’s exciting. It has enormous advantages and some disadvantages. The standards of living are increasing, and
we are receiving personalised services and products. At the same time, there is not enough time to master any
technology, and we always feel like a newcomer, which some people might find inconvenient.
2. Cognifying - Artificial intelligence and robust online filters will shape how we work and what we
learn
Artificial Intelligence and online filters will define how things work and who we are in the future. AI will
cognify objects. It means it will make them intelligent. Therefore, an enormous amount of data will be
produced by these devices. In order to benefit from this data, we would need to filter it. Tools like Google
search engine help us to filter and make use of big data. Kelly then raises the question if robots would
replace all human intelligence. His answer is no. He explains, although AI can enhance some industries such
as healthcare, it won’t replace human specialists. According to the book, physicians will be the ones to
make the best diagnosis by combining intuition with some diagnosis software. I would like to agree with this
statement. However, I think if we don’t manage it properly, we might be replaced by robots. The ideal would
be humans working together with AI. We should keep growing with technologies and determine what we can
do better than computers. This way, we can maintain control, perform human tasks, and assign redundant
tasks and memorisation to computers.
Over 100 years ago, the advent of electricity transformed the tools we use every day. The next technological
step is artificial intelligence. Today, AI is cognifying objects, turning them into tools that are “intelligent.”
Making previously “dumb” objects “smart” is one trend that will dramatically shape the future. This process
isn’t limited to physical objects, however. In fact, AI will cognify chemistry, for example, using algorithms
and databases to run virtual chemistry experiments. But if this is the future, will AI replace all human
intelligence? Definitely not. Yet AI will certainly redefine human intelligence and perhaps humanity as a
whole. While AI can enhance certain areas of study, such as medicine, this doesn’t mean AI will replace
human specialists in those fields. People and AI working together will produce the best outcomes. The most
accurate health diagnoses will be made by physicians, for example, who combine intuition with state-of-the-
art diagnostic software.
Humans won’t become superfluous, but we will have to constantly evaluate the things we can do better
than computers and delegate other tasks accordingly. This will leave us to perform tasks that are uniquely
human, such as caring for others and engaging in intuitive thinking, while letting AI take over other jobs
such as memorisation. As a result, AI will shape what we do and, in time, who we are.
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