AUGUST 08, 2018: DAILY OBSERVER
Our world has witnessed three industrial revolutions so far starting from the 18th century. If we take a look at the history chronologically we would find that the First Industrial Revolution took place from the 18th to 19th centuries when mostly agro-based community, rural societies became industrial and urban. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution. The Second Industrial Revolution took place between 1870 and 1914, just before World War I. It was a period of growth for pre-existing industries and expansion of new ones, such as steel, oil and electricity, and used electric power to create mass production. Major technological advances during this period included the telephone, light bulb, phonograph and the internal combustion engine. The Third Industrial Revolution, or the Digital Revolution, refers to the advancement of technology from analog electronic and mechanical devices to the digital technology available today. The era started during the 1980s and is ongoing. Advancements during the Third Industrial Revolution include the personal computer, the internet, and information and communications technology (ICT).
All of those industrial revolutions made our lifves comfortable, easier, powerful, enjoyable and colourful. But the Fourth Industrial Revolution is emerging as a landslide change maker in the utilization of technology which is built on the Digital Revolution, representing new ways in which technology becomes embedded within societies and even the human body. This is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is distorting the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres that includes robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, cloud computing, big data, augmented reality, simulation, biotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, 3D printing and autonomous vehicles. This revolution is also expected to see the heavy implementation of several emerging technologies with a high potential of disruptive effects. Many observers are, therefore, anticipating all of those elements as the biggest threat to the social security, and even to the existence of human beings to some extent.
Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, describes first how this fourth revolution is fundamentally different from the previous three, which were characterized mainly by advances in technology. According to him the Fourth Industrial Revolution, finally, will change not only what we do but also who we are. It will affect our identity and all the issues associated with it: our sense of privacy, our notions of ownership, our consumption patterns, the time we devote to work and leisure, and how we develop our careers, cultivate our skills, meet people, and nurture relationships.”. For example- Uber has no taxi of their own which is now the world’s largest taxi service company. The largest online social media, Facebook itself does not create even a single line of content. The largest e-commerce giant, Alibaba has no warehouse of their own. Even the largest online marketplace and hospitality service provider, Airbnb do not have its own hotels or dormitories. Each of those companies has now tied up hundreds of millions of people around the globe with a mighty virtual connectivity. The IT related infrastructure that have been established so far, such as submarine cable network, microwave mobile network, thousands of satellites orbiting the globe, data centre and millions of mobile, laptop, tab, desktop are being used by those big companies as the most effective tools for connecting emotions, demands and psychology of all the people of the world.
Every revolution brings some positive changes, developments in the fortune of the mass people. Similarly the Fourth Industrial Revolution is also bringing some definite positive changes in the life of mass people. It is reshaping government, education, healthcare, and commerce-almost every aspect of life. Education and access to information can improve the lives of billions of people. The social media revolution embodied by Facebook, Twitter, and Tencent has given everyone a voice and a way to communicate instantly across the planet. Online shopping and delivery services-including by drone-are already redefining convenience and the retail experience. In the physical realm, advances in biomedical sciences can lead to healthier lives and longer life spans. They can lead to innovations in neuroscience, like connecting the human brain to computers to enhance intelligence or experience a simulated world. Advances in automotive safety through Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies can reduce road accident and insurance costs, and carbon emissions. Autonomous vehicles can reshape the living spaces of cities, architecture, and roads themselves, and free up space for more social and human-centred spaces. Digital technology can liberate workers from automatable tasks, freeing them to concentrate on addressing more complex business issues and giving them more autonomy.
However, while the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the power to change the world positively, we have to be aware that the technologies can have negative results if we do not think about how they can change us. Biotechnology can lead to controversial advances such as designer babies, gene drives (changing the inherited traits of an entire species), or implants required to become competitive candidates for schools or jobs. Innovations in robotics and automation can lead to lost jobs, or at least jobs that are very different and value different skills. Artificial intelligence, robotics, bioengineering, programming tools, and other technologies can all be used to create and deploy weapons. Social media can erase borders and bring people together, but it can also intensify the social divide. And it gives voice to cyber-bullying, hate speech, and spreading false stories.
One of the greatest individual challenges posed by new information technologies is privacy. Facebook tracks what we do so that it knows which content and advertisements are most relevant to us. Smartphones track our location, and we can share that information with apps that recommend places to eat or shop. Retailers analyze our purchase history to recommend products and offer coupons to stimulate more sales. In the future, we will walk into a store and the salesperson will immediately have our name, credit rating, marital status, and past purchases flashed to their augmented-reality virtual screen. Technological advances are also broadening the scope of surveillance. In the UK today, an estimated 6 million CCTV cameras are recording activity all over the country. In the future, billions of 3D-printed “smart dust” cameras floating in the air can monitor the activities of humans. From traffic reports to natural disasters, such technology can keep us safer. But it also can watch us when we do not want to be watched.
According to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2017, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise income levels and improve the quality of life for all people. But today, the economic benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are becoming more concentrated among a small group. This increasing inequality can lead to political polarization, social fragmentation, and lack of trust in institutions
Whatever is the reality and what might be the reality in the coming decades, we must establish guardrails that keep the advances of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on a track to benefit all of humanity. We must recognize and manage the potential negative impacts they can have, especially in the areas of equality, employment, privacy, and trust. We have to consciously build positive values into the technologies we create; think about how they are to be used, and design them with ethical application in mind and in support of collaborative ways of preserving what’s important to us. This effort requires all stakeholders, governments, policymakers, international organizations, regulators, business organizations, academia, and civil society to work together to steer the powerful emerging technologies in ways that limit risk and create a world that aligns with inclusive growth, equitable distribution of wealth and common goals for the future.
© Copyright: Reserved by the writer (Noore Alam Siddiqui)
