Since the late 1700s, the world has gone through
three distinct industrial revolutions.
First we harnessed steam power for mechanized
production, followed by electricity for mass
production, and the most recent has seen electronics
pave the way for automated production.
Each revolution changed the scope of human
labor dramatically, and has been the most
significant force behind globalization and
division of labor.
Today, many are saying that the rapidly approaching
fourth industrial revolution will change everything
again.
So, what is the Fourth Industrial revolution?
Well, technology has increasingly permeated
our lives, and there have been rapid advancements
in manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
Since the third industrial revolution, human
labor has bridged the gap between the limits
of technology and the demands of a developing
economy.
The fourth industrial revolution is closing
that gap by eliminating the need for worker
to operate as middlemen between consumers
and machines.
That’s not good news for low skilled and
low paid labor.
As a result, many jobs will be slowly phased
out in favor of high tech automation.
Self-driving cars will eliminate the need
for taxi drivers, drone-delivery will cut
out postal services.
We’ve even seen industries like travel agencies
and video rental stores completely fold in
just the last few years.
Emerging technologies are already able to
replace a huge number of workers, with the
main barrier to full automation being the
initial cost of setting up an automated infrastructure.
As that cost collapses in the coming years,
the existing gap between low and high skill
workers will only grow.
The biggest beneficiaries of the fourth industrial
revolution will be those who invest, invent,
and consume.
Most of the world’s existing wealth holders
will see their quality of life improve, and
costs of living go down as automation makes
goods and services cheaper.
However, developing countries with huge pools
of cheap labor, such as China and India will
see artificial intelligence and robots destroy
their competitive advantage of low-cost human
capital.
The World Economic Forum has already predicted
that by 2020, more than 7 million jobs will
disappear.
These will be predominantly in white collar
and administrative roles, while areas like
computing, math, architecture, and engineering
will likely see more jobs created.
This shift will disproportionately affect
women, as the benefiting STEM fields already
see very low numbers of female engagement.
While women will lose twenty jobs for every
job gained, men will only lose four.
While the Fourth Industrial Revolution will
make it easier for upper income individuals
to create wealth, and focus more so on technical
and creative fields, it will also widen existing
gender and class gaps with little recourse.
But frankly, every industrial revolution thus
far has encountered the same exact issues.
Although the negative effects tend to fall
on existing generations, subsequent generations
see huge advancements and prosperity.
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As we enter the Fourth Industrial revolution,
some are saying that the current economic
model has run it’s course.
So, are we nearing the end of capitalism?
Check out this video to find out!
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