Book Review: The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Book Review: The Fourth Industrial Revolution:  Proceedings of a Workshop (NAP)

If the first Industrial Revolution (1784) started production of steam, water, and other mechanical things, the second (1870) ushered in division of labor, mass production, and electricity, and the third (1969) gave us electronics, IT, automation, etc., the fourth could be thought of as Cyber-physical- - systems(?). That, and its implications for manufacturing, as well as its likely social and economic effects, are dealt with in this paper. It explores, the cross-sector collaboration between government, universities, and industry needed to accommodate emerging developments in the key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, namely artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and the Internet of Things.

The Forum’s perspective on the present and future technological and societal changes is captured in the four principles that characterize the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 

One,  Think in terms of systems, not technologies. The systemic impact of various technologies will matter, sometimes for good, but sometimes also in negative ways. Hence the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have civilization-changing impact—on species, on the planet, on geopolitics, and on the global economy. 

Two,  Empowering, not determining. The Fourth Industrial Revolution shall honor existing social principles, and humans shall be shaping them and decide on how they are applied.

Three, The Future will be by design, and not by default. That calls for active governance, an amalgamation of individuals, governments, civil society, companies and, undemocratic, random, and potentially malicious forces to shape the future of technological systems and their impact on people. 

Four, Values as a feature, not a bug. The emphasis shall fall on preserving the common good, delivering multi generational environmental stewardship, and holding the primacy of human dignity, where the organizational culture changes to accommodate these.

This book, though is not suggesting any concrete plans for the future of technology, is giving sufficient signs that all that we see today shall become obsolete sooner than we think. I am sure this is a warning to all societies those are investing heavily in the present day technologies. More needs to be done for encouraging experimentation and development of new ideas for the future.