Page 100 - ICE BUSINESS TIMES January 2020

Tackling inequality The other side of

According to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report the story
2017, “the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to While the Fourth Industrial Revolution has
raise income levels and improve the quality of life for all the power to transform the world on a
people. But today, the economic benefits of the Fourth positive aspect, we have to be aware that
Industrial Revolution are becoming more concentrated among the technologies can have negative results if
a small group. This increasing inequality can lead to political we don’t think about how they can change
polarization, social fragmentation, and lack of trust in us.
institutions. To address these challenges, leaders in the public Biotechnology can lead to controversial
and private sectors need to have a deeper commitment to more advances such as ‘artificial’ babies, gene
inclusive development and equitable growth that lifts up all drives (changing the inherited traits of an
people.” entire species), or implants required to
Hence, with advancements in almost every sphere of our lives, become competitive candidates for schools
we should also consider the changes in inequality that the 4th or jobs. Innovations in robotics and
Industrial Revolution might bring. While the rich accumulate automation can lead to lost jobs or at least
more wealth, we should also keep in mind that the poor also jobs that are very different and value
need to get on board the ride to prosperity and get an equal different skills. Artificial intelligence,
opportunity to thrive. Inequality should be something that this robotics, bioengineering, programming
upcoming revolution should disintegrate, rather than tools, and other technologies can all be used
enhancing it. to create and deploy weapons.
Social media can erase borders and bring
people together, but it can also intensify the
social divide. And it gives voice to
cyber-bullying, hate speech, and spreading
Ensuring can become a reality for people misinformation. We have to decide what
around the world, including
kind of social media rules we want to
privacy those in underdeveloped create, but we also have to accept that
countries. social media is reshaping what we value
Technological advances are also The social media revolution and how we create and deploy those rules.
broadening the scope of fueled by Facebook, Twitter, and These being said, we must keep in mind that
surveillance. Advances in Tencent has given everyone a there is always a different aspect to
computing power and artificial voice and a way to communicate technological advancements and we must
intelligence can potentially enable instantly across the planet. take appropriate measures to keep them in
law enforcement agencies to track Today, more than 30% of the check.
suspected terrorists by analyzing people in the world use social To sum it all up - the innovations in
social networks, government media services to communicate artificial intelligence, biotechnology,
records, and other data. and stay informed. robotics, and other emerging technologies
In the future, chances are that These innovations can create a are going to redefine what it means to be
billions of 3D-printed “smart truly global village, bringing human and how we engage with one
dust” cameras floating in the air billions of more people into the another. Our capabilities, our identities, and
can monitor the activities of global economy. They can bring our potential of being human will all evolve
humans. From traffic reports to access to products and services along with the technologies we create.
natural disasters, such to entirely new markets. They In the coming decades, we must establish
technology can keep us safer. But can give people opportunities to guardrails that keep the advances of the
it can also watch us when we do learn and earn in new ways, and Fourth Industrial Revolution on a track to
not want to be watched. they can give people new benefit all of humanity. We must recognize
identities as they see the and manage the potential negative impacts
The Good potential for themselves that they can have, especially in the areas of
wasn’t previously available.
equality, employment, privacy, and trust. We
aspects of Online shopping and delivery have to consciously build positive values
Change services—including by into the technologies we create, think about
drones—are already redefining
how they are to be used, and design them
Education and access to convenience and the retail with ethical application in mind and in
information can improve the lives experience. The ease of delivery support of collaborative ways of preserving
of billions of people. Through can transform communities, what’s important to us. That is when we
increasingly powerful computing even in remote places, and will unlock the true power of the 4th
devices and networks, digital jumpstart the economies of Industrial Revolution and go beyond the
services, and mobile devices, this small or rural areas. technology that we are creating today.

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