Overview

In Harnessing Disruption, Sarah E. Kreps--a national security expert and military veteran--offers a fresh, clear-eyed framework for understanding the social and political dynamics that shape technological change. From nuclear weapons to AI, cryptocurrency, and social media, breakthrough innovations rarely arrive without backlash. Disruption is not collapse. History shows it is part of a recurring pattern. With unmatched insight and authority, Kreps traces a five-stage cycle that technologies follow: emergence, early warnings, crisis, agenda-setting, and institutional response. Drawing on decades of research and real-world policy experience, she argues that disruption is neither inherently dangerous nor inherently self-correcting. Rather, it's a process we can steer, if we learn to see the signs and act decisively. Harnessing Disruption challenges fatalistic narratives that cast AI and other technologies as uncontrollable forces. It makes the case for cautious optimism: that institutions can adapt, societies can recalibrate, and technologies can be governed in ways that protect both innovation and the public good. Timely, incisive, and grounded in both historical precedent and contemporary case studies, this book provides the tools for anyone to understand where we are in the cycle of disruption and how to shape what comes next.

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Sarah E. Kreps is the John L. Wetherill Professor in the Department of Government, adjunct professor of law, and director of the Tech Policy Institute at Cornell University. Her research focuses on the intersection of emerging technology, national security, and public policy, and is the subject of seven books and dozens of academic and policy articles. She previously served as an officer in the United States Air Force, where she worked in the area of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. Cassidy Brown is an actor, singer, voice-over artist, and audiobook narrator living in Los Angeles. Cassidy grew up in Oakland, California, where she spent most of her youth performing in every school production she could get her hands on. She later moved to San Francisco, which began her love affair with big cities, and she has since lived and worked as an actor in San Francisco, Manhattan, and Los Angeles. She dreams of moving to Dublin, Ireland, one day. Cassidy has a Bachelor of Arts degree from UC Berkeley. Currently, Cassidy can be seen in national commercials, films, and TV series. Her latest commercial was alongside Amy Poehler. When not in front of the camera, you can find her doing voice-over for network tv shows, or in her home booth narrating audiobooks. When she is not performing, Cassidy spends most of her time reading, exploring nature and having living room dance parties with her five-year-old son, and eating way too many avocados, which are her true passion.

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