A Fourth Industrial Revolution It is the current phase of the Industrial Revolution. For German economist Klaus Schwab, one of the creators of the idea of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, it began in 2010, when several industries in Europe, the United States, China, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea now have their entire production line automated and robotic.
Several technologies are part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, such as artificial intelligence, printers 3D, drones, nanotechnology, neurotechnology, internet of things, augmented reality, transgenics and vehicles autonomous.
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Summary on the Fourth Industrial Revolution
- The Fourth Industrial Revolution began at the end of the first decade of the 21st century.
- Germany, China and the United States are at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Artificial intelligence, cloud storage and processing, 3D printers, nanotechnology, transgenics, drones, augmented reality, are some of the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- There is currently a race between the world's great powers in search of lithium, semiconductors and chips, essential items for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- The Fourth Industrial Revolution seeks to reduce gas emissions that increase the greenhouse effect, encouraging clean forms of energy generation.
- One of the negative aspects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the precariousness of work relationships.
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the phase of the Industrial Revolution in which we currently live.
It was Klaus Schwab, one of the founders of the World Economic Forum, who was the first to defend the idea that, from 2010 onwards, the Fourth Industrial Revolution began. For the author, the current phase is marked by the fusion of several technologies that are integrating the physical, digital and biological spheres. For him, the changes that occurred from the second decade of this millennium are so profound that they justify the term Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Characteristics of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
For Klaus Schwab the main characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the speed. Currently the speed of advances is exponential, unlike other stages of the Industrial Revolution, in which advances were linear. Just remember that it was in 2007 that the iPhone 1 was launched, considered the first smartphone produced on an industrial scale. In 2022, 5 billion people in the world regularly used the internet, most of them using smartphones.
Another characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the importance of data from people and companies. Every day billions of data are collected about various activities, such as internet searches, consumer searches, social media users, among others. This data is of fundamental importance for several companies, which use it for decision making, increasing their profits.
Many argue that data and information are the oil of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as the search for data generated a race between companies and governments, similar to the search for oil in the previous stages of the Revolution Industrial.
A search for ways to generate sustainable energy is also a characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as is the attempt to reduce emission of greenhouse gases, identified as the main responsible for global warming that we live. The high price of oil also means that alternatives clean are searched. In 2023, for the first time in history, global investment in clean energy surpassed investments in energy from oil.
Read too: Sustainable development — one of the great concerns of the century. XXI
How did the Fourth Industrial Revolution come about?
The Industrial Revolution is a continuous and uninterrupted process that began around 1750 and continues until today, hence the dates related to the beginning and end of each stage of the revolution generate several discussions among historians, geographers and others experts.
But generally speaking, the Fourth Industrial Revolution began in the first decade of the 21st century, a moment in which mobile devices with internet access became popular around the world, as well as the deepening of automation of several factories, many of them using robots, internet of things, cloud storage and intelligence artificial.
But the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not unanimous. Many researchers, especially historians who research extensive historical events, claim that we are currently experiencing a process of deepening Third Industrial Revolution, and not a new phase of it. Proponents of this idea claim that current technologies are, in fact, the improvement of third phase technologies.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
A The first advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the use of sustainable energy sources for the production of electrical energy, drastically reducing gas emissions that increase the greenhouse effect. Brazil, in 2023, generated 27% of its energy through photovoltaic plants or wind.
In 2022, the European Union approved a law that bans the production of cars powered by gasoline or diesel from 2035. The state of California, in the United States, is also discussing the approval of a similar law. The trend is that, in the near future, cars with internal combustion engines will no longer be manufactured across the planet, giving way to electric vehicles or vehicles that use other energy sources clean.
One negative aspect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the loss of labor rights. Around the world, with the creation of delivery and transportation applications, for example, there is a process of precarious labor relations, with workers losing rights historically acquired. In Brazil, app drivers and delivery people are hired as individuals, so that the worker does not have rights such as vacation, thirteenth salary, among others.
know more: Structural unemployment — one of today’s greatest challenges
Innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
- Artificial intelligence: a computer is programmed by humans to perform different tasks, such as calculations, for example. In artificial intelligence, computers have the ability to develop new skills, just like humans, carrying out various activities autonomously. Artificial intelligence is currently used in several areas. To find out more about her, click here.
- Drones: These are vehicles that can be programmed or controlled remotely to perform a wide range of tasks. In Brazil, a meal delivery company began delivery tests using drones in 2020. The tests took place in the city of Campinas, in São Paulo. In 2022, the company was the first to receive authorization from the National Civil Aviation Agency to make deliveries using drones. The company's drone has a payload capacity of up to two kilograms. There are currently some military drones that use artificial intelligence and can carry out missions autonomously.
- Autonomous vehicles: These are vehicles that do not have drivers and are guided by satellites, artificial intelligence and various sensors. Currently, all major car manufacturers in the world invest in research into autonomous vehicles. Many of them have developed prototype vehicles that do not have a steering wheel, making them look more like a meeting room than a car.
- Augmented reality: is the technology that superimposes virtual elements onto the real world through the use of a camera and, sometimes, sensors. One of the areas in which augmented reality is used is electronic games. Pokémon Go, released in 2016, was the first popular game to use augmented reality. This technology is also used in medicine, education, petrochemical industry, architecture and in several other areas.
- 3D Printers: are capable of printing three-dimensional objects using the most varied materials. Although the first 3D printers were produced in the 1980s, it was only in 2010 that they began to be produced on a large scale and at more affordable prices. This printer is currently used in many activities. In medicine, for example, it prints parts of human bones or teeth that are later implanted in the patient. There are also large 3D printers, such as those being used in construction. In July 2023, the city of Georgetown, Texas, built the first neighborhood made up solely of houses made with 3D printers. This type of construction is faster and more economical than traditional forms of construction.
![3D printer building walls of a building in Russia.[1]](/f/b38825afd0efc2808d693c52aa32b50f.jpg)
- Internet of Things: is a term for connecting various everyday items to the internet. These different items work in connection, sharing data with each other. The so-called “smart home” is the best-known example of the internet of things. The “smart home” has several sensors, and appliances and other items are connected to the internet. This way, the house can identify when the owner's vehicle approaches and open the gate. When you enter, the rice will be ready, as its production was carried out prior to the owner's arrival. A smart refrigerator warns you that the milk is running low and the mayonnaise is about to expire. It is also possible to use voice commands to close or open the curtains, turn on or off lights, fans, air conditioning, among many other equipment.
- Cloud: Until recently, computers needed large internal memories to store data. The “cloud” is nothing more than data centers that store information that can be accessed by the user from any device, from anywhere on the planet, as long as they have an internet connection. With the increase in internet speed, many files started to be hosted and processed in the cloud. Google Drive, iCloud and One Drive are examples of cloud data storage platforms.
- Nanotechnology: is the area of knowledge that manipulates materials at the atomic and molecular level. She works with materials that can measure 1 nanometer. For comparison, the thickness of a human hair is about 30,000 nanometers. Nanotechnology is responsible for the development of various materials, including semiconductors, used in the manufacture of chips. The pharmaceutical industry is another area that currently uses nanotechnology, which has enabled the development of several medicines.
Read too: Big techs — the large companies that dominate the technology and innovation market
Challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The first major challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is expand global semiconductor and chip manufacturing capacity. Semiconductors are materials that may or may not conduct electrical current, depending on the conditions to which they are subjected, such as pressure, temperature, among others. Semiconductors are fundamental for the production of chips and several other components linked to high technology. Chips are used in cell phones, computers, cars and many other electronic devices that we use in our daily lives.
The problem is that few companies in the world manufacture chips. Production technology is dominated by a few companies and is extremely expensive. The largest chip producer in the world is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, known as TSMC. It alone holds 55% of world production.
TSMC is located in Taiwan, an island claimed by China, which claims that the territory has always been part of Chinese territory. On the other hand we have the United States, which supports Taiwan, politically and militarily, and its independence from China. US President Joe Biden stated in 2023 that the United States will enter into conflict with China if it attacks Taiwan.
In the previous stages of the Industrial Revolution, large mass media outlets controlled the dissemination of information, which made monitoring them easier. In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, much of the information dissemination is decentralized, mainly through social networks. The problem is that this made it possible for fake news began to be disseminated on a large scale, as well as hate speech against minorities, support for other crimes and threats to democracy. This happens all over the world.
During the 2016 United States presidential campaign, Cambridge Analytica, a company linked to candidate Donald Trump, acquired from Facebook has the browsing data of more than 87 million people, and this data was fundamental to the candidate's victory republican. Cambridge Analytica also collected improper data from people in several countries, including more than 400,000 Brazilians. There is a suspicion that the company also influenced the Brexit vote, also using information collected from Facebook users.
In 2018, a former Cambridge Analytica employee reported the company to US authorities. The company and Facebook were forced to pay heavy compensation after a trial in the country's Supreme Court. This fact shows the importance of data in the contemporary world.
Impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution impacts, directly or indirectly, the lives of almost all human beings. Today, using your cell phone, people can access information, in real time, about events happening on the other side of the world. You can also make purchases in other countries, pay your bank bills, hold meetings with people who are in different locations, studying at any time and place, among many other situations that were unthinkable two years ago. decades.
AppAnnie, a company that uses artificial intelligence to collect data from Android devices, reported that Brazilians spent, on average, 5.4 hours a day using their cell phones, according to data 2021. This corresponds to almost a quarter of the day. It's worth remembering that this is an average and that many people spend more than 12 hours a day connected. O excess of technology is another problem caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and mainly affects children and adolescents.
Image credits
[1] Ranglen/Shutterstock
Sources
HOBSBAWN, Eric. The Age of Revolutions. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2012.
MENEGUELLO, Cristina. DECCA, Edgar Salvadori. Factories and men: Industrial Revolution and the daily lives of workers. São Paulo: Current, 2019.
TEIXEIRA, Francisco M. P. Industrial Revolution. São Paulo: Ática, 2019.
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/quarta-revolucao-industrial.htm