Technological unemployment: Educating for the fourth industrial revolution

Abstract

This paper reviews recent the concerns and discussion about technological unemployment focusing on the trope “the robots are coming” and beginning with reference to the World Summit (2015) devoted to the issue. There is consensus that robots and big data systems will disrupt labor markets, kill jobs and cause social inequalities. The paper examines Klaus Schwab’s concept of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” – a concept that underlied the recent Davos meeting to inquire about the role of education in an age of automated cognition. Keywords: Technological unemployment, robotization, job displacement, fourth industrial revolution, automated cognition, post-industrial education