Will 5th Industrial Revolution shape the future of humanity?

By Rushan Ziatdinov

The four Industrial Revolutions have had a significant and far-reaching impact on humanity. They also significantly influenced social, economic and political institutions. These revolutions ushered in a shift from manual labor to machine-based production, leading to new smart industries, AI and robot-based technologies and other innovations.

The Industrial Revolutions enabled mass production and increased labor productivity, allowing more goods and services to be produced in a unit of time. On the other hand, they also led to the displacement of many traditional jobs and the emergence of new forms of social, economic and technological inequality that can be seen today in countries' levels of development. Now, there is a gap in technological development among nations that is sometimes very large.

IBM's website states, "Industry 4.0 is revolutionizing the way companies manufacture, improve and distribute their products. Manufacturers are integrating new technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and analytics, and AI and machine learning into their production facilities and throughout their operations."

In South Korea, there are many discussions about Industry 4.0, or the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). But is this the final stage in the development of humanity in the 21st century? We still have many global issues on Earth, such as poverty, racial discrimination, food insecurity and many others that the 4th Industrial Revolution was unable to solve due to its focus primarily on manufacturing-related issues.

The question that arises is: what comes next? What good does the next Industrial Revolution bring us? Can the next round of development of human civilization solve these pressing social issues?

Less than one hundred Scopus-indexed articles mention the 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) in their titles or abstracts starting from 2016. Also, many works can be found in Google Scholar. So, what is the difference between the 4th and the 5th Industrial Revolutions?

Rundle (2017) describes the 5IR as being faster, more scalable, and affecting more people through the nature of the technology at their disposal than previous ones. The European Economic and Social Committee (2018) describes the 5IR as "…focused on combining human beings' creativity and craftsmanship with the speed, productivity and consistency of robots" (EESC, 2018).

The Fifth Industrial Revolution, 5IR, is the idea of people and machines working together harmoniously, emphasizing the well-being of multiple stakeholders ― society, businesses, workers and customers. It thus paves the way for an (r)evolution in thinking about and harnessing human-machine collaboration for greater societal well-being (Noble, 2022).

According to Noble et al. (2022), the 5IR era began in 2020, and 5IR, similarly to 4IR, utilizes a maximization strategy, with the 4IR maximizing the number, scope and interconnection of technologies and the 5IR maximizing the capabilities of both technology and humans by recognizing where each excels.

In 4IR, humans compete with machines, but in 5IR, humans are supposed to collaborate harmoniously with machines. Also, the 5IR is well-being focused, which means the well-being of all of humanity and planet Earth, and there will be a focus on sustainable and renewable resources as well as the humane use of technology.

If the 5th Industrial Revolution is to focus on well-being, there must first be a focus on human society based on fairness, honesty and mutual trust, peaceful coexistence and a comfortable and happy life free of stress, anxiety and violence.

In many ways, the human race is not yet ready to meet the challenges that lie ahead. The World Economic Forum estimates that 65 percent of children starting school today will be working in new jobs that don't exist yet, much of it due to the rapid advances of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The transition to the 5IR requires readiness at all levels of the education system, including higher education. Inclusiveness here plays one of the essential roles that will minimize or even diminish flaws that existed in the past.

I've asked ChatGPT how the 5th Industrial Revolution will change modern education. Here is the answer I've received.

"The 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) has the potential to significantly change modern education in several ways. Here are some potential ways:

1) Greater emphasis on STEM education: With the increased adoption of automation and artificial intelligence (AI), there will be a growing demand for individuals with skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. As a result, modern education may shift towards a greater emphasis on STEM education to prepare students for the changing job market.

2) Blended learning: The rise of online learning and educational technology has already begun to change the way students learn, and the 5IR is likely to accelerate this trend. Blended learning, which combines online and traditional classroom learning, is becoming increasingly popular and may become the norm in modern education.

3) Personalized learning: With advances in AI and machine learning, personalized learning may become more prevalent in modern education. Students may receive tailored instruction and assessments based on their individual learning needs and preferences.

4) Focus on soft skills: As automation takes over routine tasks, there will be a growing demand for skills that cannot be easily automated, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and emotional intelligence. Modern education may shift towards a greater emphasis on these soft skills to prepare students for the 5IR job market.

5) Lifelong learning: The 5IR will require individuals to continually update their skills and knowledge to remain relevant in the workforce. Modern education may need to shift towards a lifelong learning model, where individuals continue to learn and acquire new skills throughout their careers.

Overall, the 5IR is likely to change modern education in significant ways, with a greater emphasis on STEM education, blended and personalized learning, soft skills and lifelong learning."

Let me briefly comment on these.
1) Of course, past and future industrial revolutions are related to STEM education. However, the 5IR is supposed to focus on well-being; therefore, social sciences and humanities will also play an important role here. According to the U.N. Declaration on the Right to Development, all human beings have a right to development. Taking into account the concept of inclusiveness, every field should have a chance to contribute to the progress of society.

2) Not only blended learning but many other effective instructional models can benefit future education.

3) Personalized learning may require more effort from instructors, advanced technologies, and more government investments.

4) Fully agree on soft skills. As mentioned in the Forbes article in 2022, people who develop soft skills that relate to how they think, work and relate to others will be the most successful in the future workplace. Here, I add that a recent classification by Touloumakos (2022) classifies soft skills into nine categories.

5) Hard (technical) skills are quickly changing, which means there is a need to update them through lifelong learning continuously.

Rushan Ziatdinov (www.ziatdinov-lab.com) is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Keimyung University, Daegu.