The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to the emergence of new technologies such as autonomous vehicles, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence. These technologies are merging human and physical lives and are set to create several changes in the world and how people view the world. The Fourth Industrial Revolution has been shown by Schwab (2016) that it will result in multiple changes in the multiple sectors of the society. He specifically observes that the next industrial revolution will be unlike anything that human kind has ever experienced. The arguments raised by Schwab (2016) are compelling because he specifically shows how the fourth industrial revolution will specifically impact every aspect of our lives. The next industrial wave will create a significant historical changes because it will impact every field, challenge what it means to be human, and have disruptive effects.
Comments On Schwab’s Article
The analysis of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by Schwab (2017) are very compelling. The article begins by pointing out that the next industrial wave will alter the way people live, work, and relate to one another. He specifically observes the emergence of the fourth industrial revolution by analyzing the emergence of the first, second, and the third industrial revolution. He further observes some of the characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution that make it unlike anything that has been experienced before. He points out that the Fourth one is exponential unlike other types that were linear. The exponential nature means that the velocity, scope, speed, and systems it will impact will be massive once the technology has been implemented.
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The arguments are also compelling because Schwab (2016) goes ahead to specifically identify every sector that will be affected by technology. He accurately supports his arguments by identifying the challenges and opportunities that have been brought by the new technologies. From the argument, the challenges could have severe consequences and the opportunities would result in huge benefits. Additionally, Schwab (2016) points out that almost every sector such as businesses, the government, people, and the future. Pointing out all these sectors is a clear indicator of his point of the disruptive nature of the next revolution.
Summary of Schwab’s Article
The article begins by pointing out that the next industrial wave will affect the world in a way that has never been seen in history. Schwab (2016) points out the difference between the fourth industrial revolution and the previous ones by noting that it follows an exponential approach and that its velocity, scope, and systems impact will be significant. He further points out the different types of technologies that have been implemented in the fourth industrial revolution. Some of the technologies include biotechnology, Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, and 3-D printing. Schwab (2016) then identifies the specific challenges and opportunities that will be brought about by the new technologies. The challenges identified mostly affect people through inequality. When discussing the opportunities, Schwab (2016) observes that the new technology will result in significant productivity, growth, and efficiency for businesses.
Schwab (2016) further identifies specific sectors that will be affected by the new industrial revolution. The sectors identified were businesses, governments, people, and the future. He observes that businesses will be affected “on customer expectations, on product enhancement, on collaborative innovation, and on organizational forms” (Schwab, 2016). Governments will be affected in the pervasive surveillance and engagement with citizens while people will be affected in the privacy, ownership, consumption, and identities. With the new technologies, the impact on the future cannot be clearly identified. However, Schwab (2016) identifies that by putting people and values first, people will be able to create technologies that empower human beings.
The Next Industrial Revolution Will Be Unlike Anything Human Kind Has Experienced
Scope and Impact on Almost Every Field
The argument that the next industrial revolution will be unlike anything human kind has experienced before is true because of the scope of the change. Never before has an industrial revolution affected the government, people, and businesses at the same time. Chung and Kim (2016) observe that the fourth industrial revolution will affect the way individuals live and will result in change in every aspect of the society. The authors specifically observe the example of the internet devices that has had a large impact on society and how people do things. They also note that there is therefore a need for researchers to carry out adequate studies on 3-D, driverless cars, biotechnology, and nanotechnology fields. These fields have been less examined because of the scope and nature of the development of the fourth industrial revolution.
In the book, Schwab (2016) observes that the unfolding technological revolution will usher in economic, social, and cultural changes in significant portions that are impossible to imagine. This shows that the scope of the technologies and the impact that they will have will be difficult to grasp by many people. When observing about the scope of the impact, Schwab (2016) thus observes that there is a need for collaborative forms in order to realize success with the new technologies.
Challenging What It Means to be Human
The next industrial wave will be unlike anything experienced before because it will challenge what it essentially means to be human. The use and interact of human beings with the digital world through cyber-physical systems will change the way people work, how people live, and interact with another (Pereira & Romero, 2017). The internet and social media is an example of the changes that have been caused by the fourth industrial revolution. People are increasingly experiencing changes in the way they communicate and relate with another. Many people have already raised concerns regarding social media communication. With social media becoming the main tool for communication, many people question whether the human physical contact is reducing. This raises questions regarding humanity and the importance of maintaining of physical contact.
Disruptive Innovation
Never before have human beings experienced technology that is disruptive as the technologies that come with the fourth industrial revolution. Ab Rahman, Hamid and Chin (2017) observe that previous revolution were mostly sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation is mostly experienced by new technology. Sustaining innovation sustains an existing product, market and value network while disruptive innovation prompts disruption and changes to the nature of market, value network, and products (Ab Rahman, Hamid & Chin, 2017). Some of the disruptive technology that were observed by the authors include digital media store, smartphones, the internet, and streaming video portals. Uber is an example of a disruptive technology that was brought about by the internet and smartphones. Never before in history could people imagine that such a transportation and taxi services could be simply operated through the use of smartphones and internet connection.
The emergency of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will also lead to more technology that have disruptive effects. Ab Rahman, Hamid and Chin (2017) observe that apart from simply creating a new technology, the industrial revolution will also change the existent Technology Support Network. The new technologies demand robust technologies with more users and the structure that supports the technology will be different. The disruptive technology will also alter human lives and cause significant changes in market trends and other aspects such as communication and transportation. Many people have already felt the massive impacts of disruptive innovation and are expected to continually experience the effects.
Speed
The speed of innovation and the adoption of technologies presented in the fourth industrial revolution is faster than ever. The speed of innovation is faster than ever before. New technologies are emerging and are increasingly applied to almost every field. Morrar Arman and Mousa (2017) observes that the internet has resulted in adequate communication leading to speeding up of innovation. Schwab (2016) specifically points out how companies such as Uber, Alibaba, and Airbnb are currently household names but these companies were unknown a few years ago. Additionally, he points out that the iPhone was launched only in the year 2007 and approximately 2 billion smart phones were in the market by the year 2015. Unlike other industrial revolutions that took several decades to gain massive users, technologies that are in the fourth industrial revolution can gain a billion users in a very short span. The speedy adoption of new technologies means that new innovative companies are emerging and succeeding faster than ever before while companies that do not adopt new technologies are being faced out of the market quickly.
In conclusion the arguments presented by Schwab (2016) stating that the new technologies will affect the next industrial revolution are unlike anything human kind has experienced before are compelling. There is already evidence that the technologies developed over the past few years have been unlike anything experienced in history. The technology is disruptive and can change the way human beings relate and communicate. The next industrial revolution is expected to come with multiple disruptive technologies that will change the world immeasurably. The scope and speed of adoption of new technologies in the next revolution means that human beings are yet to experience massive changes in almost every aspects of their lives and the changes are going to take place very quickly.
References
Ab Rahman, A., Hamid, U. Z. A., & Chin, T. A. (2017). Emerging technologies with disruptive effects: a review. Perintis e-Journal , 7 (2), 111-128.
Chung, M., & Kim, J. (2016). The Internet Information and Technology Research Directions based on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. KSII Transactions on Internet & Information Systems , 10 (3).
Morrar, R., Arman, H., & Mousa, S. (2017). The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0): A social innovation perspective. Technology Innovation Management Review , 7 (11), 12-20.
Pereira, A. C., & Romero, F. (2017). A review of the meanings and the implications of the Industry 4.0 concept. Procedia Manufacturing , 13 , 1206-1214.
Schwab, K. (2016). The fourth industrial revolution . Currency.
Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
