Industry 4.0 overview
Like all previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is changing not only production, but our whole life — the economy, relationships between people, even, to some extent, the very understanding of what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence and robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D printing, virtual and augmented reality, bio- and neurotechnologies — these latest methods are becoming a part of our daily existence before our eyes.
Robots instead of people
Modern technologies attract more and more investments, as they significantly reduce costs and provide advantages over competitors. At the same time, the place of people in business processes is also changing, many professions become unnecessary or change dramatically. According to PwC:
- 53% of workers believe that automation will significantly change or make their work obsolete over the next ten years (only 28% think this is unlikely).
- 77% of workers will be forced to acquire new skills or completely retrain in the near future due to robotization.
- 80% of men in connection with robotization acquire new skills compared to 74% of women.
- 34% of adults without secondary and higher education do not consider it necessary to develop new digital skills.
- 69% of people aged 18 to 34 are positive about the potential impact of digitalization on the labor market. Their opinion is shared by 59% of people aged 35 to 54 and 50% of people over the age of 55.
However, artificial intelligence still cannot completely replace a person. For effective work, it still needs to be directed, set goals, suggest optimal solutions.
Internet of Things
New technologies create new opportunities — both positive for society and dangerous. The Internet of Things is a term that refers to the connection of «smart devices» into a single network. On the one hand, such a connection solves many problems — it improves the situation with traffic on the roads, improves healthcare, ensures security, automates many things both at home and in production. On the other hand, new risks are emerging: automated systems can be hacked, and personal data can be stolen and used for harm.
Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
If in 2017, including when we, as a team, were pioneers of VR technology, especially in the region, virtual reality was seen either as a toy or as a highly specialized tool for training, for example, pilots or the military, now, in 2020, The use of virtual reality is on the rise. Companies and departments are increasingly resorting to corporate training methods using VR, and in a variety of areas: retail, medicine, services, industry. Today, virtual reality is being used in presentations, entertainment, art, and scientific research. And in connection with the quarantine measures caused by the epidemic of a new coronavirus infection, even more organizations are focusing on it.
Big Data
The transition to electronic media allows you to store more and more data in areas traditionally associated with the accumulation of information: public administration, industry, medicine, science, retail. Social networks and the Internet of Things also add data. To process such a volume of information, new methods are needed, which are called big data. New opportunities for analyzing such arrays affect many areas of life, including business, healthcare, communications and entertainment.
At the same time, big data, like the Internet of things, requires increased attention to the security system. Information, and especially its large volume, which is analyzed by companies, has a high price. Its leakage can lead to disaster for both the business and the individual.
Artificial intelligence
Different algorithms can be called artificial learning — machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence itself. What they have in common is the ability to solve non-standard, non-routine tasks based on a large amount of data. For example, track down a criminal using street surveillance cameras, diagnose a disease using data from medical devices, and even predict a scientific discovery.
Artificial intelligence recognizes speech in voice assistants, filters news feeds on social networks, helps us make choices in online stores, recommending a particular product based on our preferences. He is also able to analyze our consumer behavior, predict needs and thus increase sales. This allows you to earn huge money and gives rise to monopoly companies. So in 2017, Google controlled almost 90% of the global contextual advertising market, and Facebook controlled almost 80% of social networks. Facebook also has one of the most notorious data breach scandals: in 2016, the data of 50 million users ended up in the hands of a third party that used the data to influence US elections.
However, leakage is also possible from other sources. According to EY, the average consumer in Russia is required to identify and provide data to fifteen or more different organizations. There are twenty-four such organizations in Moscow. In the data protection system of any organization, there may be a gap that hackers will find.
With the development of technology and globalization, the boundaries of privacy are increasingly blurred: more and more companies have the ability to track the movement and monitor the behavior of people. Today, society lives in the most perfect surveillance system, which it has created for itself. The state and third parties can learn everything about our lives in a few minutes and influence our decisions and choices.
Technology is changing the very concept of «human». Until recently, people with mechanisms and devices built into the body in science fiction were called cyborgs. Today, implanted devices restore hearing and vision, compensate for the work of internal organs, and biotechnologies move disease and death further and further away from a person.
There are also questions about the future of robots. What if a person wants to create robots similar to us not only in abilities, but also in needs — in self-preservation, socialization, resources? Will the fears of the rise of the machines then come true?
High technologies give rise to many ethical issues, force society to rebuild and develop new moral and legal norms. New opportunities not only simplify our lives, but also force us to constantly change in order to keep up with the rhythm of life — to master new skills, change the way we communicate, take into account new risks. However, do not be afraid of new technologies that are changing our daily lives and economies in front of our eyes. As Klaus Schwab said, “We will not be able to take full advantage of the opportunities that are opening up if we surrender to the complexity of technologies and consider them external, deterministic forces beyond our control.”
