Smoke & Mirrors

How Hype Obscures the Future and How to See Past It

By: Gemma Milne

Narrated by: Gemma Milne

Robots will steal your job!

AI will revolutionise farming!

Genetic editing will cure cancer!

Bombastic headlines about science and technology are nothing new. To cut through the constant stream of information and misinformation on social media, or grab the attention of investors, or convince governments to take notice, strident headlines or bold claims seem necessary to give complex, nuanced information some wow factor.

But hype has a dark side, too.

It can mislead. It can distract. It can blinker us from seeing what is actually going on.

From AI, quantum computing and brain implants, to cancer drugs, future foods and fusion energy, science and technology journalist, Gemma Milne, reveals hype to be responsible for fundamentally misdirecting or even derailing crucial progress.

Hype can be combated and discounted, though, if you're able to see exactly where, how, and why it is being deployed.

This audiobook is your guide to doing just that.

©2020 Gemma Milne (P)2020 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"A much-needed blast of fresh air! Gemma Milne expertly shows us how to separate the truth from the hype surrounding the emerging techs of today, and those of the near-tomorrow." (Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins: How the Earth Made Us)

"I loved this book! This is exactly the sort of sceptical, cut-through-the crap-but-still-excited-about-what's-emerging book around tech innovation that's sorely needed, yet is so hard to find...essential reading for anyone who's serious about how real-world advances might be effectively harnessed to build a better future." (Dr Andrew Maynard, scientist and author of Films from the Future and Future Rising)