The term 4th industrial revolution should not have been unfamiliar to specialists. But the recent gathering of the world’s “lords” in the Swiss Davos (after their invitees: the Greek prime minister belongs to the seconds and certainly not to the firsts!) gave a boost – to the terminology, not to the revolution itself1. The measurement itself (“1st”, “2nd”, “3rd”… “4th”) is useful, but for the opposite reasons from what suits the official counters. Who simply want to reassure: things as they go…
For some of the predictions/prophesies we write elsewhere2. From a technical perspective (and this is what gives the number “4”) the developments are clearly continuity, acceleration and reduction to the N of the developments of the “3rd”, that is, the generalization of the bio/informational model. And indeed, notable technical applications are coming (or are already here) that, there is no doubt, will change much on top of the many things that have already changed, without having received the political attention analysis that they should have.
First of all (in our opinion) home (or even commercial) use robots, “smart machines” that will become (depending also on their price drop per unit) part of daily life, just as quickly as “mobile phones” became such (already smartphones and very soon universal remote controls for “managing” everyday life). Let us remind those who haven’t noticed, that mobile phones went through 4 phases of evolution within the same (human) generation; a speed of technological improvements without historical precedent.
Consumer robots, whether for the home, the office, or the store—robots that is, that are no longer confined exclusively to large industrial facilities—are truly knocking at our doors. Whether as household assistants, companions, multi-tools – coordinators of the electro/digital ecosystem of other home appliances, attractions, salespeople, or many of these things or all of them in various combinations… It is the big market, global; and, at the same time, the great opportunity for the dynamics of continuous improvements, innovations. We assume that aspiring manufacturers calculate that such robots (with high-quality programming and capabilities) will become as essential as the washing machine or the refrigerator; and as appealing as pets. What else for the average “citizen” of 21st century capitalism?
At the same forefront, the internet of things. The internet-of-things will constitute a dense network of communications-between-devices-of-daily-use (even simple things), shaping a strong “machine independence”—independence from us. This development encompasses everything: from household appliances to surveillance and control of anything that can be called a “public space” in the old sense. Sensors, sensors, sensors everywhere, even on us, on our clothes or on our skin; and, of course, a “personal hub” within this dense network of communication among things—the personal remote control. If one ever feels lost today when they lose (or have stolen) their smartphone, they will feel this a hundred and a thousand times more within the realm of the internet of things. (Naturally, these remote controls will by then be so “smart” that they will return on their own to their “master,” no matter how far away they may have ended up.)
Similarly, but more invisible, perhaps not as much as now, the applications of biotechnology and neuroscience. The possibilities of “personal health monitoring” through various wearables and non-wearables are the most tangible (and impressive) part of this parade, which is already underway. However, regarding what is called “health,” “therapy,” “rehabilitation,” etc., the steps are already very large (during the “3rd”) and the promises ahead are for leaps.
The same applies to materials technologies, new materials, nanotechnologies. The physics we learned in school has already become simply a chapter in the physics of discovery, research, and/or construction of entirely new properties at the molecular (even submolecular) scale.
And everywhere data, data, data! Data is already flooding us, and it is only intellectual and aesthetic inertia that prevents the “general public” from understanding the changes that have already taken place. It is only the beginning, as data production and concentration have been growing at exponential rates for years. And the Internet of Things has not yet been generalized.
The summary and hasty “note” that was submitted at the relevant event on the 4th industrial revolution, in Davos, says the following:
… At their core, data represent a post-industrial opportunity. Their use has an unprecedented complexity, speed, and global reach. As digital communications become ubiquitous, data will command a world where almost everyone and everything will be interconnected in real time. This will require reliable, secure, and accessible high-level infrastructures at its core, and innovation at its edges.
…
The rapid pace of technological change and commodification in the use of digital data undermines trust. Related tensions are growing. Concerns about the misuse of digital data are constantly increasing. There is also growing public discontent regarding what “they” know about us, as confirmed by the Snowden revelations. Fundamental questions regarding privacy, ownership, global governance, human rights—especially concerning who will benefit from the products and services created based on the exploitation of digital data—are the main uncertainties shaping both challenges and opportunities.
Yes, we cannot hit the “pause” button and forget these issues.
…
What no one, either among those who welcome the 4th industrial revolution or those who fear and reject it, says is this incredible (from a historical point of view) concentration of capital that already characterizes the “3rd”, and – provided it remains outside active, practical, combative and effective challenge – will progress exponentially into the “4th”. By the word “capital” we do not mean only money. We mean anything that shapes and strengthens contemporary powers, at the top of the hierarchical pyramid. “Information”, technologies, human minds (technical and non-technical), capabilities: through secrecy, the fetishism (positive or negative makes no difference) of the achievements and applications of the “3rd”, real ownership, real control, real orientations (of research) and critical decisions are increasingly systematically concentrated in (relatively) few “hands” – and this has nothing conspiratorial about it!! It happens before our eyes, it happens with our active participation and our passive inertia.
We owe something. Whether the “4th” is a step above the “3rd”, or whether it is the logical evolution and consequence thereof, we owe something: knowledge, awareness, the clear view which will be (truly and not opportunistically) opposed (to the “lords” of the world, to exploitation, to their violence). The provincial repulsions, the foolish routine certainties, the petty-bourgeois appeasement, the fantasies of willing slaves, the postmodern daily “pauses”—these are ostrichism and poison. Let us confront the capitalist 21st century as it is: this is what we deserve and what we are worth. Let us speak as loudly as we can about it: it is a change of paradigm … period!!!
Z. S.
cyborg #05 – 02/2016
- Amid the war convulsions caused by the renewed partition of the planet and space (what we insist on calling the 4th world war), the invitees at this year’s Davos gathering had much more urgent matters to discuss, sipping their whiskies or/and their cocktails. The issues of the “4th industrial revolution” are essentially unfolding in places that have no clue about things like “Syria”, “refugees”, “China”, etc. ↩︎
- Sarajevo no 103, February 2016, 4th industrial revolution; we call it restructuring. ↩︎