Artificial intelligence - the fourth industrial revolution

Sunrise over the earth from space  AI created

The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) heralds the fourth industrial revolution, building on the three previous technology changes in the past. The AI revolution, as so termed, will bring with it a very strong reality of causing genuine employment reductions (not redeployment) and hence social dislocation. Occupations will be replaced and workforce reductions can and will occur often at lightening speed.

So what were the previous industrial revolutions ?

1st indsutrial revolution: essentially mechanisation of sorts such as water power, steam power and a move away from agrarian economies to mechanisation.

2nd industrial revolution: this was the era of electrification and new power sources. In turn this enabled new advances in mehanisation, the advent of the assembly line. Mass production became possible in both consumer goods and business-to-business methods such as machine tools.

3rd industrial revolution: the information economy and the internet. Computers, semiconductors and the use of automation and early stage robotics. The move from analog to digital also comes into this era.

And now the 4th industrial revolution which has heralded artifical intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, biotechnology advances and connectivity between physical, digital and biological systems.

Why the 4th industrial revolution is so significant is the very characterisation of AI itself. The systems learn and improve on their own, make decisions and automate cognitive work. This a paradigm shift in reality and one where the end point and absolute objectives are not at all clear.