![]() This will give rise to a job market increasingly segregated into “low-skill/low-pay” and “high-skill/high-pay” segments, which in turn will lead to an increase in social tensions. However, I am convinced of one thing - that in the future, talent, more than capital, will represent the critical factor of production. We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is likely to be some combination of the two. On the other hand, it is also possible that the displacement of workers by technology will, in aggregate, result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs. As automation substitutes for labor across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between returns to capital and returns to labor. ![]() Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective and the cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open new markets and drive economic growth.Īt the same time, as the economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, the revolution could yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labor markets. In the future, technological innovation will also lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity. Ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film or playing a game - any of these can now be done remotely. To date, those who have gained the most from it have been consumers able to afford and access the digital world technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. Engineers, designers and architects are combining computational design, additive manufacturing, materials engineering, and synthetic biology to pioneer a symbiosis between microorganisms, our bodies, the products we consume and even the buildings we inhabit. Digital fabrication technologies, meanwhile, are interacting with the biological world on a daily basis. ![]() Impressive progress has been made in AI in recent years, driven by exponential increases in computing power and by the availability of vast amounts of data, from software used to discover new drugs to algorithms used to predict our cultural interests. And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage and quantum computing.Īlready, artificial intelligence is all around us, from self-driving cars and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest. The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity and access to knowledge, are unlimited. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management and governance. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. There are three reasons why today’s transformations represent not merely a prolongation of the Third Industrial Revolution but rather the arrival of a Fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope and systems impact. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital and biological spheres. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. In its scale, scope and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to one another. As the lines blur between the physical and digital, we need to ensure the technological revolution has a positive impact on society.
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