Artificial intelligence is already well on its way to making "good jobs" obsolete: many paralegals, journalists, office workers, and even computer programmers are poised to be replaced by robots and smart software.

Ford believes that unlike previous centuries, the current emerging technologies will fail to generate new forms of employment; he predicts that new industries will "rarely, if ever, be highly labor-intensive".

[4] Libertarian economist Robin Hanson argues that the recent ominous labor trends may have causes other than automation, such as "demographics, regulation, worker values, organization practices, and other technologies".

Reviewing Rise in the New York Times, Barbara Ehrenreich stated "The human consequences of robotization are already upon us, and skillfully chronicled here".

[3] The Guardian's review points out the book gets more speculative as it goes on, and states: "Although it may be difficult to overstate the dangers posed by the new technology", Rise may have managed to do so, but is regardless well worth reading.