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.
In the near future it’ll be more and more important to stake out a claim in the online
marketplace.
For help with that, check out this episode’s sponsor, Domain dot com, the place to go when
that next great idea hits you!
And now you’re not just limited to dot com or dot org, you can register tons of new domains
under “dot design”, “dot club” and even “dot ninja!”
And because you know we love our TestTube audience, you can save 20% by using the coupon
code “TUBE” at Domain dot com’s checkout!
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!
Thanks for
watching TestTube News, don’t forget to like and subscribe for new videos every day,
and check out me out on SourceFed, where news and comedy collide!