THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION – ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

Abstract

People have always wanted to improve and ease their lives. They used a variety of means, tools, machines, and other people to achieve that goal. In achieving it, people change the way they live, work and relate to one another. All these rapid and abrupt changes in society that radically changed human life and occurred in a certain period of time are called Revolutions. Human history recognizes about 3 Revolutions so far that have affected all aspects of life. The world is facing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries. The 4IR will fundamentally change people’s lives. It covers wide-ranging fields such as Artificial intelligence, The Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy savings, computing, etc. This paper aims to explain in detail the advantages and disadvantages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and warn people to understand it and make adaptations to it. Understanding the 4IR and its new technologies and their threats is critical for all the nations.