How the fourth industrial revolution will change the world 第四次工业革命如何改变世界

李全忠

第四次科技革命，是继蒸汽技术革命、电力技术革命、计算机及信息技术革命后又一次科技革命。四次工业革命，是以人工智能，清洁能源，机器人技术，量子信息技术，虚拟现实以及生物技术为主的全新技术革命。

In 2016， the World Economic Forum in Davos chose “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution” as its theme. It was one of the first public uses of a term that has quickly entered the mainstream.

As a catch-all description of a wave of disruptive new technologies， some already in the wild and others in the pipeline， it brings together a diverse collection of products and services with the potential to change not just industry but wider society. They include 5G networks， Wi-Fi 6， the internet of things （IoT）， autonomous vehicles， artificial intelligence and machine learning， renewable power， 3D printing， blockchain finance， robotics， nanotechnology（纳米技术）， quantum computing and biotechnology. These technologies are already reshaping the labour market and our lives. To give just a few examples：

● In classrooms， children are learning from online software. Human teachers step in to help them with the parts they struggle to understand， once those have been identified by the app.

●Rather than employing a journalist to write a story about changing share prices， financial websites use algorithms（算法; 計算程序） that display neat graphs automatically and without errors.

● Police and private companies in the UK are using AI to look for the faces of criminals in crowds.

The fourth industrial revolution （or 4IR） is already creating ethical（ 道德的; 伦理的; 合乎道德的） and legal problems， the greatest of which may be the fear that robots are coming for our jobs. A 2017 report by global management consultants McKinsey said that as many as 800 million workers worldwide could be “displaced” by changing technologies between 2017 and 2030.

Already， according to Professor Andrew Scott of the London Business School， “thousands of jobs in financial services have gone as transactions（交易;业务;） have moved online.” Soon， he predicts， “people in marketing may find the tasks they perform being taken over by AI [and] new technologies could lay waste to a host of back-office jobs such as processing information for accounts or handling legal documents.” It sounds like bad news， but its not the whole story.

While 4IR is a challenge rather than a threat， it poses potential problems. Harford suggests that lower-skilled jobs may become simplistic and souldestroying， while Professor Scott thinks that people in the middle of the  skill spectrum， or those who cant retrain， may struggle to find work.

Yet， far from resisting it， economists and politicians say Britain must embrace 4IR， to minimise the risks and ensure the new technologies benefit society as a whole. As digital minister in 2017， Matt Hancock told a group of MPs investigating 4IR： “Our goal must be to automate work， but humanise jobs. Allow machines to do the dangerous， boring and repetitive， and ensure we humans have the capacity to do the creative， empathetic and interactive.”

The new technologies driving the fourth industrial revolution are already creating challenges as well as opportunities – and both are likely to multiply as the pace of change accelerates. The potential pitfalls are ethical and social as much as technical， with the biggest perceived threat being increased unemployment. But there is every reason to be optimistic as we seek to take advantage of this latest wave of change.

One thing is certain： there is no way to turn back the clock. However we choose to engage with it， technology will reshape our world again.

Reading check

1. What does the second paragraph mainly talk about

A. Argument about new technologies influences.

B.  The disadvantages these technologies bring to society.

C. New technologies influences on industry and wider society.

D. Artificial intelligence and machine learnings development.

2. Which is the greatest problems that 4IR causes

A. People arent prepared for the challenge from 4IR.

B. People fear that robots will take the place of them.

C. People will become more dependent on technology.

D. People will show little interest in working together.

3. In Matt Hancock s opinion， what kind of jobs should humans do

A. Creative and repetitive.

B. Boring and creative.

C. Interactive but dangerous.

D. Creative and interactive.

4. Which column is the text taken from

A. Science.

B. Economy.

C. Education.

D. Culture.

Language study

Sentence for writing

Human teachers step in to help them with the parts they struggle to understand， once those have been identified by the app.

【信息提取】句中once作連词，相当于from the moment that， when，意思是“一旦……就……”，用来引导时间状语从句。

【句式仿写】一旦你学会西班牙语，你会觉得意大利语容易。

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