Publisher's Synopsis
Previous industrial revolutions led to the rise of cities, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. We are now on the brink of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, characterized by a range of new technologies fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. And this revolution is unlike in other in human history, for a few reasons. First is the pace of progress. Already, artificial intelligence is all around us, from Watson to drones to virtual assistants. We have 3-D printing, DNA sequencing, microchips many times smaller than a grain of sand. But that's nothing compared to what's coming. WEF data predicts that by 2025, we will see: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than human hair used in commercial manufacturing, the first transplant of a 3-D printed liver, driverless cars equaling 10% of all cars on US road, AI robots collecting taxes and performing corporate audits, and much more Second is the speed at which these technologies are proliferating. Consider that in 2003, 500 million devices were connected to the internet. Today, that number is 6.4 billion and is expected hit 1 trillion in under a decade. Third is the increasing integration of the digital and physical worlds. Think beyond smart thermostats and wearable sensors and imagine "smart factories" in which global systems of manufacturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made up of biosynthetic materials. Schwab outlines the key technologies driving this revolution, discusses the major impacts on governments, businesses, civil society and individuals, and offers bold ideas for what can be done to harness to shape a better future - one in which technology empowers people rather than replacing them, progress serves society rather than upending it, and innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than crossing them.
