Average Is Over

Cowen’s argument is essentially that the middle is hollowing out: technology will reward those who complement machines, and punish those who compete with them. It’s a thesis that has aged well.

The book is strongest when it’s most concrete — the chess sections are genuinely fascinating as a lens for thinking about human-AI collaboration. It’s weaker when it ventures into social prediction. But even the speculative parts are thought-provoking enough to justify the read.