Wednesday, July 15, 2020

We Don't yet Agree on What the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" Entails

One hears quite a lot about how 5G will help power the “fourth industrial revolution.” It never is completely clear how people are using the term, but one way of looking at matters is to recall three earlier revolutions based on mechanized looms, steam power and railroads, oil energy and mass production. Using that typology, computing will power the fourth industrial revolution, which we have been in for some decades. 

source: Carnegie Investment Counsel


Others might describe the revolutions slightly differently, basing the first revolution on mechanization, steam and water power. The second industrial revolution then is mass production based on the use of electricity. The third revolution then was based on use of electronic and information systems plus automation. The fourth revolution then is based on cyber-physical systems. 


source: Britannica


There are yet other ways to describe the fourth industrial revolution, where the first was based on the steam engine, the second on mass production, the third on information technology and the coming fourth on smart finance. Some descriptions of the revolutions focus on steam power, electricity and information technology as the drivers of the first three industrial phases. 

source: Digital Republic


Others think the fourth industrial revolution is about applying artificial intelligence to create autonomous decision making. 


With that amount of disagreement, it seems obvious that we do not yet all agree on what is coming.


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