Introduction
Do you realize that humanity is just one step away from the technological revolution that will change people's entire lifestyles? The technological revolution is a period of innovations where technologies are replaced by novel ones in a short time. Although this revolution will lead to tremendous technical and digital progress, this process is a double-edged sword that can desperately change aspects of people's lives. The response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. (Klaus, 2016).
The history of human development is a complex, time-consuming, yet interesting process. The First Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanize production (Klaus, 2016). While the Second used electricity and mass production, the Third Revolution used electronics and information technology to automate manufacturing (Klaus, 2016). The foundation for the next Fourth Industrial Revolution was the Third Revolution, which is characterized by a fusion of technologies that blurs the boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.
The fourth industrial revolution will be a heavy blow to the economy of Kazakhstan. The reason is that this process requires a robust economy with outstanding conditions. In 2021, Kazakhstan ranked 56th in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with a nominal GDP of USD 177,32 Bn (OECD and World Bank, 2021). Therefore, countries with developed economies will displace countries such as Kazakhstan. Moreover, this may lead to the desolation of the internal market and the economy.
In term 1, I did research on the topic «How can the digitalization of people's lives affect their freedom?" and during the research received a lot of valuable information that went beyond the research question. Therefore, I decided to start a new paper that explores the impact of digitalization on people's society.
This research topic contains an actual long-term issue, that can tremendously affect our life. Therefore, as a citizen of Kazakhstan, I have a personal interest in exploring the outcomes and potential consequences of digitalization for the country and the world at large. Moreover, I am still confronted with the side effects of this process in my everyday life
Many people believe that digitalization is a positive process, and it will open the door for unique technologies that will greatly improve the life of humanity, such as biohacking, reprogramming the DNA, material hacking, and using nanotechnologies, atoms, and molecules in a new way. In contrast, some admit that this revolution can lead to drastic alerts in society such as poor cyber-protection, economic instability, the gap between G7 and Third World countries, and even more.
Context
The fourth industrial revolution is the progressive transition from traditional manufacturing and industrial processes to cyber technologies (Klaus, 2021). In other words, humans will be able to manipulate atoms, creating a new concept called 'cyberspace' (Bernard, 2018). Atoms are the DNA of the world and humans will be able to change them by reprogramming them, such as nanotechnology — the manipulation of matter at an almost atomic level. «Nanotechnology refers to engineered structures, devices, and systems that begin to exhibit unique properties that affect physical, chemical and biological behavior» (Charles et al., 2003). Therefore, this technology promises scientific advancement in many fields such as medicine, consumer products, energy, materials, and manufacturing.
Ancient mechanical watches worn by humans were the first step toward the intertwining of the human body and technology. Modern wearables include smartwatches, fitness bracelets, smart glasses, head-mounted VR displays, etc. (Helion, 2020). In the development of wearable technologies, body implants are the next step in evolution. «Embedded technology within the human body, also called biohacking, i.e., biology + hacking refers to all kinds of implants in and interventions to the human body to enhance performance and health» (Norton, 2016). Although it may sound like fiction, «There are several embedded technologies (or biohacks)... already available in the market — electronic tattoos or stamps, password pills, memory chips, magnetic implants and guiding/GPS systems embedded in the human body are some of the examples» (Monks, 2014). Since such technologies already exist, it is only natural that shortly everyone will start digitizing their bodies with such implants.
Global companies will fundamentally change their business platforms to meet the demands of the fourth industrial revolution, leading to new problems such as data security and digital attack protection. «MITM is an eavesdropping attack, where a cybercriminal intercepts and relays messages between two parties to steal data» and «Digital defense is a practice of protecting the computer systems, networks, and other assets»... (IBM, 2022). Using new program codes and integrating the entire system of companies is a time-consuming and expensive process. In addition, these systems will involve multiple value chain actors as well as consumers, therefore the number of user access points will increase dramatically. These points will be the main targets of cyberattacks. Thus, the more attack points that need to be covered, the more difficult (and expensive) it will be to secure the system (Collins Ayuya, 2020). Consequently, Industry 4.0 makes it impossible to fully protect a company from cyber threats.
Since the fourth industrial revolution is the automation of production, it will lead to the complete displacement of workers by machines (Klaus, 2016). Robots are more economically viable than humans because they can work non-stop, without salaries and distractions. For example, «Amazon Go» is a cashier-less grocery shop where all products are tracked by cameras and sensors (Shannon Liao, 2018). Today, «in Kazakhstan... more than 80 % of manufacturing enterprises and 60 % of mining industries are at Industry 2.0 level- this is a semi-automated production or a stage of transition to automated production (Amanzhol et al., 2019). Therefore, shortly, at the end of the Industry 2.0 transition, the country will have modern, fully autonomous robotic workers and millions of unemployed citizens displaced by them. As a result, most countries will suffer huge economic losses, while a few countries with superb economies will benefit from the transition and make a leap forward in development.
Aims
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is an inevitable process that will bring about the digitalization of human lifestyles and permanently change the way people live. Therefore, this paper intends to comprehensively examine the possible consequences and analyze the further impact of cyber-physical technologies on people's economic structure and social life. During this research, the answers to the following questions will be revealed:
- What is the awareness of people about the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
- How will Industry 4.0 affect the employment of people?
- What are the economic consequences of Industry 4.0?
- What is the possible effect of cyber-physical technologies on the outer market?
Methods
This research is created for anticipating the issues that might be caused by the Fourth industrial revolution. Also, to know about the impact on the technology and economic system of the world. I am going to use both an interview and a survey. The fourth industrial revolution is a large-scale topic and it needs to be discovered deeply. Interviews allow one to receive professional and thoughtful opinions (qualitative), whereas a survey gives the general opinion of citizens and allows one to get as many answers as possible (quantitative).
The interviewer has the opportunity to observe the behavior of the informant and track his reaction to diverse questions, which can provide much crucial information. In addition, interviews allow people to share stories, emotions, and ideas, while polls and secondary research provide general data without detailed information on the research. The interview will be conducted with professional workers in this field (25 and 30 years old). Because they will give concrete answers with constructive arguments and facts. Mostly, thought-provoking questions that will provide more true and detailed answers about the topic. For instance, “What are the advantages/disadvantages of Industry 4.0?”. And I will ask for detailed responses.
The second method is a survey. The polling method is irreplaceable when it is necessary to obtain information of an objective character from an enormous number of respondents. And another plus of this method is that it allows you to conduct research in different cities and regions of the country, the reason for that is via simple devices such as a smartphone with which they can take polling. This ensures comparability of results for further analysis. The questions do not carry a semantic load, which is more general without any clarifications. For example, “Are you interested in this process?” (multiple choice), “What do you think is good or bad?” (open-ended question). The questionnaire will be conducted between adults (25–45 ages) and youngsters (15–25 ages). Since adults have passed through previous industrial revolutions, they can provide superb ideas, whereas youngsters have modern views of this world.
All the sources are reliable according to the RAVEN. Websites not used for advertising. Furthermore, the majority of these sites are PDF documents of university projects from international universities such as NU. Also, there are some articles from international organizations and companies which always write true and accurate information. Besides, the authors discuss both sides of the process by following a neutral position. Therefore, sources are credible and can be used for the research.
Results
Both interviews and surveys were used to collect the answers/data for the research questions. Interviews were conducted with two professionals in the economic and ICT sphere. The survey conducted among students and teachers of Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools got 42 responses, 71.4 % and 28.6 % of respondents were the aged 17–23 and 24–30 respectively (Diagram 1).
What is the awareness of people about the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
The questions in Diagram 2 and Diagram 3 revealed the awareness of the respondents about the Fourth Industrial Revolution and their interest in this process. Most of the respondents were aware of the process of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (71,4 % (Diagram 2)) and nearly four-quarter of them (72,6 % (Diagram 3)) are “interested” or “very interested” in a running process. Answers revealed that only a small percentage of respondents (28.6 % (Diagram 2)) are unaware and are not interested (14.3 % (Diagram 3)) in the process. Those answers greatly helped to answer the research question 1 — “What is an awareness of people about the Fourth Industrial Revolution?”.
How will Industry 4.0 affect the employment of people?
According to the first interview, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will lead to the automation of the social environment. Human beings will play the main role in the further development of humanity by using robots and AI. That will reduce energy usage (Picture 2). Fields connected with manufacturing and extraction of raw materials will be carried out by machines. Therefore, Industry 4.0 will bring considerable alterations to the labor market.
What are the economic consequences of Industry 4.0?
As claimed by the second interviewee Industry 4.0 is the modernization and automation of the world (Picture 1). That will directly affect the labor market and cause enormous changes in the employment system. Several jobs will lose their value and disappear. Industry 4.0 brings huge risks to the economic system, as most countries will not be able to act quickly and deal with the changes in the world. Therefore, only countries with superb economic conditions may survive those changes without a critical blow to the economy of the country.
What is the possible effect of cyber-physical technologies on the outer market?
As for the external market, new technologies are emerging in many industries that create completely new methods to meet existing needs and significantly disrupt existing value chains. Change is also coming from agile, innovative competitors who, with access to global digital platforms for research, development, marketing, sales, and distribution, can drive out established traditional players faster than ever through improved quality, speed, or price. value delivered.
Conclusion
To sum up, the main purpose of this research is to discover and comprehend the future impact of the Fourth industrial revolution on society. During this project, a wide range of information/data was collected by carrying out primary and secondary research.
A revolution can lead to even greater inequality, especially in its ability to disrupt labor markets. Since automation replaces labor throughout the economy, the sheer displacement of workers by machines might widen the gap between returns to capital and returns to labor. On the other hand, it is also possible that technology crowding out workers will collectively result in a net increase in safe and rewarding jobs. At this point, it is impossible to foresee what may happen, and history suggests that the result will be a combination of both. But one thing is clear — that in the future talent, not capital will become the key factor of production. This will lead to the fact that the labor market will be more divided into segments of high-skilled/high-pay and low-skilled / low-paid, which, in turn, will lead to an increase in social tension.
The fourth industrial revolution is crucial for Kazakhstan, even though it has some minor disadvantages in terms of technological improvement, but generally, that will led to the enhancement of society in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is full of problems such as a small volume of the domestic market, long distances between settlements, and lack of access to the sea. It is claimed that Industry 4.0 will give opportunities to solve these problems by increasing competitiveness and creating new market niches. Robotization and digitalization will form new branches in the industry where Kazakhstan has a huge potential for being the leading country, the reason for that is there are plenty of resources and strong specialists.
Also, Industry 4.0 has many benefits for humanity. For instance, maximum use of assets. As these systems are interconnected and integrated, production becomes stable. It becomes a single end-to-end process rather than a fragmented combination of processes. This reduces duplicate roles in the system. Machine downtime is also minimized through remote monitoring and predictive maintenance, which includes the use of data analytics to predict system downtime. In addition, the quality of services and products will increase. For example, the Rolls Royce business model offers customers the highest level of flexibility in creating the products they want. The production of various products is very sophisticated and backed up by data (market data, product data, customer data), resulting in lower inventory levels and increased sales. Real-time data analysis is being used to deliver enhanced quality everywhere.
Evaluation
The authors described the pros and cons of the Fourth industrial revolution from different lenses by constructing arguments. For instance, Klaus Schwab could provide a detailed explanation of Industry 4.0 and write about its importance of it to the world. “Ultimately, the ability of government systems and public authorities to adapt will determine their survival. If they prove capable of embracing a world of disruptive change, subjecting their structures to the levels of transparency and efficiency that will enable them to maintain their competitive edge, they will endure. If they cannot evolve, they will face increasing trouble.” Unfortunately, that is true since the Fourth industrial revolution will bring drastic changes to humanity and the first blow will be felt by the government. (Klaus Schwab) Klaus Martin Schwab is a German engineer and economist best known as the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum. That is why the arguments of the author are reliable.
Most of the authors have written about the economic impact of the Fourth industrial revolution. As a result, the economy is one of the main topics of the research. Articles have a wide range of information about it and by providing examples arguments became stronger. Furthermore, results from primary and secondary research support the claims. The online surveys allowed us to collect the answers from a large number of people. Also, data that was received from the interview with professionals in this field made arguments strong enough. Consequently, the results are acceptable.
All the sources are reliable because this was taken from the international websites that focused on that sphere and other research of Ph.D. on that topic. Articles consist of professional views without general information. The topics that they covered were described from different sides. Therefore, sources are reliable.
Frankly, I have gained experience and knowledge about the Fourth industrial revolution. For example, I did not know about the impact of Industry 4.0 on the world labor market. This investigation helped me to expand my vision about the development of humanity. I have felt the pressure of such a big process by exploring it. However, while working I have faced some problems, such as collecting data for the result section. The reason for that is the rules that the interviewer should follow. It is challenging to follow neutrality and to discuss the topic from conversation dissimilar points. If I had a chance, I would research the economic structure of other countries with the purpose to show the contrast between technological and economical advancement between nations.
References:
- Alejandro Lavopa & Michele Delera, 2021, What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution? https://iap.unido.org/articles/what-fourth-industrial-revolution
- Amanzhol Daribaya, Aidana Serikovaa, Ikechi A. Ukaegbua, 2019, Industry 4.0: Kazakhstani Industrialization Needs a Global Perspective https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050919305897
- Bernard Marr, 2018, The 4th Industrial Revolution Is Here — Are You Ready? https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/08/13/the-4th-industrial-revolution-is-here-are-you-ready/?sh=5d6d301628b2
- Charles P. Poole, Jr. Frank J. Owens, 2003, Introduction to Nanotechnology https://books.google.kz/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XfzgEoY9SNkC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=nanotechnology+research+papers&ots=rPZ3odekDh&sig=rqB1M55YFCf8fj7VNf-RjRWY-j8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
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- Shannon Liao, 2018, Amazon opens its first cashier-less Go store outside of Seattle https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/17/17869294/amazon-go-store-chicago-cashier-less
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