Abstract
It is often said that the expression “May you live in interesting times!” is an ancient Chinese curse. In reality this story is probably apocryphal, but the notion behind it is not: times of great change can produce great opportunities, but also significant personal stress or major societal upheaval. Many things can cause change, but technological innovation is often a facilitator. And one challenge for people during times of change is understanding the realities of these technologies. It is a tough challenge to separate out the hype generated by those who stand to gain financially and otherwise from the truth of what is actually being achieved. News media and social networking sites offer little help; the reporters are often no more versed in the technologies than the people for whom they are writing. The optimists among them see reasons for hope. The pessimists, reasons for fear. And the truth, when it is finally found, usually lies in a more nuanced space, somewhere between the two.
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For example, our publisher has an entire series that includes many excellent books on the topic; go to www.apress.com/robots-and-electronics/robots .
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© 2016 James Hendler and Alice M. Mulvehill
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Hendler, J., Mulvehill, A.M. (2016). Introduction: Why This Book?. In: Social Machines. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-1156-4_1
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