The world is currently embracing Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution. While the revolution promises the world to a vast amount of opportunities, challenges are, at the same minute, surrounding the change.
Arguably, immense challenges always occur when the way the world works shifts. From the era of human labor before the first industrial revolution, which was the introduction of steam machines, to the currently skyrocketing digital age, challenges and fears are always present.
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Pessimism in Embracing an Industrial Revolution
For instance, in the field of media, people were pessimistic when the first typewriter arrived. In their defense, people assumed that typing would eliminate the habits of writing which, at that time, was crucial for indicating intelligence.
The same goes when the first computer-based media came. People were skeptical at first, but later on result showed that it boosted media’s productivity significantly. Then, when the Internet penetrated the industry, many people argued that it would degrade the quality of media in some ways possible. Again, result displayed a positive mass-distribution of information in a way people expected.
And, for the time being, an indifferent phenomenon happens as Industry 4.0 is about to apply. People found it hard to keep faith in the past due to lingering uncertainty, but statistics now can help to foresee what will happen in the future.
Challenges Surrounding Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 exposes the industrial world to a novel, more advanced opportunities in using digital technology to optimize productivity. However, each optional technology also brings challenges to the industries.
For example, the rapid development and integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in short, helps industries learn patterns they cannot previously spot to solve problems. The implementation of AI, on the other hand, potentially lessens the roles of humans in particular jobs. Despite the statement, it also opens up various job opportunities that do not exist before.
Another example is additive manufacturing or 3D printing. This innovation assists numerous sectors depending on their creativity to use the machine. That said, it will eradicate the needs of using numerous big machines that are highly useful up to this point.
Also, blockchain technology is significantly useful in enabling traceability to an immeasurable limit. While this can greatly help industries to pinpoint the location and condition of their current goods, it potentially goes wrong if used the wrong way (so does any technology).
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