Dawn or Doom: The Risks and Rewards of Emerging Technologies presents 35 original essays by experts in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the ""Internet of Things,"" synthetic biology, cybercrime, and space travel on the societal effects of these new technologies.

What if what we had thought was linear societal change driven by technology is actually exponential? What does that mean for us? Is the increase in the rate of change of technology itself a cause for concern?

What is the future of work if robots can do all our work for us? What do concepts like privacy and security mean in an environment in which technology plays an increasingly large but sometimes invisible role?

Will changes advance too fast for us to be able to recognize or mitigate the dangers? Can legislators hope to write effective laws regarding the technologies? Do we know enough about the science that these technologies are based on to even answer straightforward questions about danger and opportunity?

Issues such as these are what Purdue University's annual Dawn or Doom conference was created to explore. With a foreword by Purdue University President Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., Dawn or Doom: The Risks and Rewards of Emerging Technologies brings original essays from the speakers at the first two Dawn or Doom events that address segments of these concerns.