Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the features of human augmentation through the lens of education and work with the purpose of contributing to research and policy analysis for a changing global era. It focuses on the theme of augmented intelligence in the context of a new education-for-work paradigm linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The book highlights the phenomenal daily advances in what a McKinsey team of researchers calls the “Bio Revolution”. It considers the US response to China’s growing geopolitical influence. In 2019, the US government established the National Defense Authorization Act and tasked a blue-ribbon panel with making recommendations. The book investigates the growing mismatch between employers’ needs and workers’ skills in advanced economies, and how higher education is responding to such concerns.