The Next Revolution
Ancient and modern human civilizations have both benefited from and been impeded by the technological innovations, inventions and engineering applications used within societies to perform specific tasks. For societies to thrive and evolve, technological innovations have become necessary, while at the same time the culture, ideals and aspirations of human societies have shaped how those civilizations have created, benefited from, and been impeded by, technology. The cyclical nature of society and technologies is one where each factor greatly affects the other, starting with human societies and resulting in the development of different technologies to meet the needs of the society.
Ultimately, technology has positively affected human life from antiquity until now by solving problems associated with everyday life, and making it easier for different tasks to be completed. Technology has made it easier to farm, more feasible to build cities, and more convenient to travel, among many other things, effectively linking together all countries on earth, helping to create globalization, and making it easier for economies to grow and for companies to do business. Virtually every facet of human life can be carried out in an easier, more effective, and quicker fashion via technological solutions, resulting in less problems in one way, and more problems in another.
The 4th Revolution
Like the earlier Industrial Revolutions, which sparked tremendous economic activity across manufacturing, commerce, transportation and more, the AI Revolution can drive a new wave of growth. While some markets, sectors and individual businesses are more advanced than others, AI is still at a very early stage of development overall.
AI is set to be the key source of transformation, disruption and competitive advantage in today’s fast changing economy.
The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now a Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.
In addition to being a key economic concern, inequality represents the greatest societal concern associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be the providers of intellectual and physical capital — the innovators, shareholders, and investors — which explains the rising gap in wealth between those dependent on capital versus labor. Technology is therefore one of the main reasons why incomes have stagnated, or even decreased, for a majority of the population in high-income countries: the demand for highly skilled workers has increased while the demand for workers with less education and lower skills has decreased.
As humans venture into the future, it is increasingly important for engineers to operate in a more conscientious and responsible manner, and for end-users to create a balance between the usage of technological systems with old-fashioned techniques for getting things done in a more healthy, productive manner.
