Introduction

I hope you like it; it is an old family recipe [says the robot to another robot].

In this chapter, you'll explore 4th Industrial Revolution, Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science, Blockchain, Web 3, the Trolley Problem, Ethics in AI, the Robot Economy, and programs we'll need to succeed with artificial intelligence at our sides.

Your Contribution

  1. Collaborate in the current Google Slides template (available via Canvas) to summarizes your chosen topic and readings.
  2. Then ask each other questions and suggest revisions by using the Slides Commenting feature. Be sure to @name to alert your classmates of your comments.
  3. Download/Print a PDF of your slide and the Bibliography slide that includes your entries.
  4. Submit the PDF in Canvas for a plagiarism check and score.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

First is mechanism, water, and steam power. Second is mass production, assembly line, and electricity. Third is computerization and automation. And the fourth is cyberphysical systems.

In the mid 1700's mechanization and the steam engine heralded a new era of mass production. Just 100 years later, electricity and fossil fuel energies along with the telegraph and telephone sped up our ability to communicate and travel faster, fostering a new era of networking. Within another 100 years, we were able to computerize those networks, satiate our need for more electricity with nuclear energy and dig deeper into space as well as the microscopic with bigger and smaller technologies.

And now just 50 years later, we are at the brink of major changes again, with the advent of virtual computing, smart devices, roboticized mass production, and digital healthcare.

With every industrial revolution, citizens revolted for fear of losing their livelihoods. But after a time, they adjusted...some flourished and others perished. How will our current social structures contend with these new upheavals? This chapter explores what is happening, about to happen, and how we might prepare ourselves so that less people parish and more flourish.

The World Economic Forum, whose agenda is to foster international public/private cooperation by evaluating trends to shape future technologies and governance, explains the fourth industrial revolution in a variety of documents. The relationships within society and the revolution are mapped visually... click the map to interact with it in a new tab:

World Economic Forum interactive map of the 4th industrial revolution.

Alternatively, view Timothy Comprehensive's 3-minute video description to understand how societies have developed from the first to the fourth revolution:

Reading List

Refer to writing instructions under each page of the template provided in step 9.5. Open articles in new tabs and add them to your bibliography tool.

Trapped in the Metaverse: Here’s What 24 Hours in VR Feels Like (2021)

Citizen Science

SciStarter.org publishes links to citizen scientist projects. Look there for disaster relief projects you can get involve in, then search for other topics of interest.

Reading List

Blockchain and Web3 Economies

If society is to use the fourth industrial revolution to the fullest, we'll need technologies that engage citizens in more fair and equitable processes, which are key aims of crowdsourced data and blockchain technologies.

Fourteen parts of the crowd economy
The 14 Parts of the crowd economy landscape. CC 2015 Sean Moffitt

Blockchain Reading List

Refer to writing instructions under each page of the template provided in step 9.5. Open articles in new tabs and add them to your bibliography tool.

Web3 Reading List

Ethics in AI

Quick introduction to MIT's The Moral Machine, which allows humans to create a simple study to solve the Trolly Problem.

Our evolution as a species is dependent upon solving the toughest questions. Are we capable of doing that with the help of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning?

Let's see how you and others fair when solving the Trolley Problem. It demonstrates how tough it is to make decisions based on 'the greater good'.

Start by using MIT's Moral Machine (a platform for gathering human recommendations for self-driving car decisions) to design your own scenario(s) for a study. Invite 15 or more humans to participate in the data-gathering, and analyze the results.

What problems did your research bump up against?

Can those problems be solved by experts and government advisory boards?

"I taught an AI to solve the trolley problem" by Sabrina from Answer in Progress, 2021. (18 min)
"Episode 59: Kant pt4: Categorical Trolley Cars" by Stephen West of Philosophize This! (30 min)

Reading List: Trolly Problem/Moral Machine

Reading List: The State of Ethics in AI

The Robot Economy

What does the future of "work" and "jobs" look like? Will our current robotics endeavors result in more employment opportunities and fulfill the workforce...creating a peaceful coexistence? Or, will an overabundance of robots result in increased apathy, increased poverty, and a reduction in human rights? Will robots become so intelligent that humans in their current state die out or will they evolve? Read more about what experts think about the future of work and the Singularity:

Reading List: Robots

What We'll Need to Succeed

Societies and governments are beginning to experiment with sustainable solutions that benefit bigger chunks of citizens. Learn more about how some programs have succeeded (or failed):

Reading List