THE FEAR INDEX

I just finished a novel, THE FEAR INDEX, by Robert Harris. It is about a CERN physicist who takes his sophisticated artificial intelligence programming and creates a hedge fund to predict movements in the financial markets. It gives us a searing glimpse into the world of greed and panic and forces us to confront the question of what it means to be human.

As I was considering these issues ... a new concept popped into my head: "the digital nervous system" ... A digital nervous system consists of the digital process that enable a company to perceive and react to its environment, to sense competitor challenges and customer needs, and to organise timely responses...

- BILL GATES, Business @ the SPEED of Thoughts(1999)

So the hedge fund's mission is:


THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL HAVE NO PAPER

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL CARRY NO INVENTORY

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL BE ENTIRELY DIGITAL

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED


As the company's use of AI grows, problems appear. The mission seems to have been changed:


THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL HAVE NO WORKERS

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL HAVE NO MANAGERS

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL BE A DIGITAL ENTITY

THE COMPANY OF THE FUTURE WILL BE ALIVE


You will have to read the book to learn how the humans handle their fears.

As an Information Technologist with over 40 years in the industry, on both the technical and business end, I enjoyed this novel.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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