This book predicts the decline of today's professions & describes the people & systems that will replace them In an Internet society according to Richard Susskind & Daniel Susskind we will neither need nor want doctors teachers accountants architects the clergy consultants lawyers & many others to work as they did in the 20th century The Future of the Professions explains how 'increasingly capable systems'
- from telepresence to artificial intelligence
- will bring fundamental change in the way that the 'practical expertise' of specialists is made available in society The authors challenge the 'grand bargain'
- the arrangement that grants various monopolies to today's professionals They argue that our current professions are antiquated opaque & no longer affordable & that the expertise of the best is enjoyed only by a few In their place they propose six new models for producing & distributing expertise in society The book raises important practical & moral questions In an era when machines can out-perform human beings at most tasks what are the prospects for employment who should own & control online expertise & what tasks should be reserved exclusively for people? Based on the authors' in-depth research of more than ten professions & illustrated by numerous examples from each this is the first book to assess & question the relevance of the professions in the 21st century