AND IT WILL TRANSFORM OUR EXISTENCE. HERE'S HOW.
Humanity has witnessed 3 Industrial revolutions so far:
Introduction of machines & mechanization of production cycle powered by the steam engine in the UK in the 18th century.
Mass production through assembly line process pioneered by Henry Ford in the earlier 20th century.
Advent of electronics & the Internet in the early 1960s in America.
All the 3 had colossal impact on how we work, how we interact, how we live, how we passed time & how we travel. The 4th one is creeping slowly in our lives as we advance in the tech realm with frightening pace. Well I have noticed that the time gap between the revolutions has decreased with quicker technological innovation & adaptation.
SO HERE ARE THE MAJOR TRENDS OF REVOLUTION 4.0:
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
For many Artificial Intelligence is an abstract concept. Many of us don't now what it exactly means. My understanding is that it is the ability of a machine to execute certain functions i.e. complete work without human input. That means to make its own decisions & assumptions without external assistance. A particular subset of AI called "artificial general intelligence" fascinates me. In AGI, the machine can think like a human mind. It is not restricted to the data it is fed. It learns from its previous experiences and adapts accordingly. What I have learnt about AI is that it needs tons of quality data to be a functional system. For example, if an AI has the work of identifying a product with a manufacturing defect, it needs thousands of defective products as an example.
So here are some future applications of AGI in the real world in the near future:
Perform clerical & repetitive tasks like proof reading & form filling (legal sector)
Analyzing data to find trends. (data science)
Driving an autonomous vehicle (tech already partially available)
Making thousands of combinations & permutations to find a cure or drug. (pharmaceutical industry)
Facial Recognition (surveillance & security)
Clinical diagnostics with assistance of smart equipment (home healthcare)
suggesting tweaks in design (Product design & development)
ROBOTICS
Today, we won't find many functional robots who can have a tremendous impact. However, countries like Japan, China & USA are investing billions. Robots can have a major role in our future like:
Manufacturing (obvious)
Mining (deep sea & Arctic for resources where human labor is not possible).
Agriculture (ploughing & sowing systematically)
Healthcare (performing intricate surgeries in vital organs)
Manual labor (construction of house)
Military (Robot Soldiers)
There is a question of job loss by advancement of AI & robotics but that's a question for another day.
Internet of Things
basically means all devices are connected to EACH OTHER. So this will lead to integration of various smart devices which will actually ease our lives. let me show you some scenarios to show how useful IoT can be:
You are watching a horror movie on your smart TV & the lights are automatically dimmed.
You are in your self driving car & due to heavy traffic you will reach your destination (say office) late. So your smart calendar informs this to your colleagues through a message.
You wake up at 6 AM, you coffee is ready (coffee maker), your bath is ready (heater) & your vehicle (electric) is charged and ready to go.
You are washing your clothes. Your washing machine identifies the type, material & size of your clothes & uses the optimum amount of water & detergent automatically.
You just came back after doing your workout. Your smartwatch conveys this to the AC which drastically reduces the room temperature for some time.
You have a heart attack. The smart watch immediately calls the emergency number through your mobile. A recorded message is conveyed.
The possibilities are endless! IoT can be a gamechanger in how we interact with others & with our devices.
Virtual Reality
A very niche concept as of yet, VR can be very exciting indeed. It can transform our entertainment & create an endless opportunity for leisure. In VR, we create a virtual environment in which we interact using special gloves & body suits. Some repercussions of VR are:
The gaming industry will be transformed. the ways of using VR in gaming are infinite. We can be an MMA fighter or a SWAT commando. and a football player or a President!
The movie industry will also be impacted. the watch we watch films can also change,
We can also learn soft skills like plumbing or mechanical engineering in a more immersive manner.
I also expect Augmented Reality, a similar concept with the exception that it makes virtual 3D objects in the real world to have a similar impact like VR.
DIGITAL TWINS
One of the less heralded developments, Digital Twins has already heavily influenced the manufacturing industry. Digital twin means an object has a similar 3D virtual copy. It can be changed, influenced or tampered with in digitally. For example, I can have the digital twin of a compressor (heart of A/C & refrigerator) & see how it performs in different conditions. I can see its performance virtually at different temperatures & in different machines. The image above is an accurate representation of a digital twin.
Its possible future applications are:
it is already being used in production by implementing changes to the process & seeing their effects. For example, in car manufacturing the factory manager can check whether the door is joined faster by a human or a robot digitally in the twin.
It can be used for urban planning of various cities by creating a lifelike model of the city plan & checking out how it will function in real life.
It can be used to hone the skills of a surgeon, welder, electrician & other such professionals who have technical skill based jobs.
It can be used in product design by checking its actual feasibility.
It can also be used in aerospace (For example, by checking how a rocket behaves when it is exiting the orbit)
The main advantage of digital twin is that the cost of mistake is nil. So faults or defects can be easily detected early in the digital realm. This brings efficiency to a whole new level.
3D PRINTING
A more developed technology in comparison to digital twins, 3D Printing can truly change our lies. Here are some of its possible uses in the future:
Its already being used to make parts of rockets by Tesla & Blue Origin. So it can play a major role in space exploration in the future.
The printing of personalized prosthetic legs & hands is not an alien concept even today & is already in use.
It has tremendous scope in production of complex products like a fake lung or a microprocessor.
I have already written an article on this so if you are interested click below:
BLOCKCHAIN
This was a tech developed in 1993. However nobody knew what to do with such an advanced & encrypted technology. That is until Bitcoin hit us. However its scope & usage has expanded since then.
To understand it, imagine it as a digital journal of transactions. Every transaction is first manually entered in the system. The computer then quickly evaluates the authenticity of the transaction. For example, if you are buying a book from amazon and entering it on blockchain, then it will authenticate it first. After its verified, it will record the transaction in a block. A block stores thousands of transactions. Once a block is full, it is assigned a sequence number called hash and a new block opens. Now the system is unhackable. This is because there is no central computer. Each transaction is stored in every node (computer) of the system which are in millions. So even if one computer is hacked, the system will identify only the majority as the true transaction. I hope I could make you understand.
Now the use of blockchain is not restricted to digital currency. Any exchange can be entered as a transaction provided it is online. So it can be used in:
Banking. Instead of manually entering thousands of deposits & withdrawals, blockchain tech can be used to record these transactions. It will be more quicker as well as more secure.
Stock Exchange. Record buying & selling of securities.
Supply chain management. Know the source & route of commodity.
Health records. To make records of personal health cases.
5G
5G is to IR 4.0 what steam engine was to the first Industrial Revolution. Without it, none of the features/trends above would be possible with the exception of 3D Printing. 5G has exponentially increased the broadband speed which will kickstart the Internet of things. The dramatic rise in speed can be illustrated below.
CONCLUSION
I believe each of the tech stated above have the potential to transform our lives. Its always better to stay ahead of the curve & know about the upcoming changes. Its all up to you now to incorporate this upcoming innovation in your business/work/life to have the advantage!
STAY TUNED.
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