Step out of that time machine and you’ll see 2030 looks a lot different from 2020 or even 2025. These days work is more rewarding, because 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies have largely removed the monotonous stuff. What’s more, people are healthier, they get around easier, and have almost gotten used to all the drones.
Work has been reshaped by 4IR technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics all working in concert. Office workers are no longer subject to boring tasks like data entry and document reviews, because intelligent automation solutions can “read” even complex unstructured content and deal with it effectively. Intelligent apps can even ferret out just the important emails in your inbox.
“Instead of data being centralized in a data center, or even in a cloud, where you can store it there in the cheapest manner, in the 4th Industrial Revolution, data must reside, be used, and be accessed everywhere,” says Paul Savill, Senior Vice President for Products and Services at Lumen Technologies
That leaves us humans to focus on important, strategic endeavors – we love that. And we have so many digital tools at our disposal to help with decision-making. Digital twin technology is now de-rigueur and combines with AI/ML technology to help us accurately predict how changes to processes, systems and even building infrastructure will work out. It really brings out the creativity in folks.
In factories and warehouses, robotics has likewise proved to be a game-changer. Sensors in robots combine with local edge and cloud-based ML applications to enable robots to react to changes in their environment, freeing them up to perform most any task. Here again, they relieve humans of the most repetitive and sometimes dangerous tasks while dramatically lowering costs. Many warehouses are now fully autonomous, with only one or two humans around just keeping an eye on things.
Yes, all those robots have taken jobs that once belonged to humans. But, thanks in large part to AR/VR technology, we’ve gotten much better at helping folks retrain for better-paying, more rewarding work. (The renewable energy sector is just booming, for example, as is tech. Even with AI/ML and predictive maintenance, it still takes a ton of people to deploy all these 4IR systems and keep them up and running.)
4IR technology has also found its way to rural areas. IoT sensors and applications enable farmers to monitor metrics like soil moisture and weather. Farmers now routinely have IT staff to implement tools that lead to more informed decisions, increased yields and improved productivity. READ MORE...
