This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 6, 2020 - January 12, 2020

1990 was the dawn of the age of the personal computer, 2000 the harbinger of the internet, and 2010 ushered in the now ubiquitous smartphone.

Not to be outdone, 2020 and the decade ahead will host the age of digital transformation. The clash with legacy systems will change the socio-economic experience for everyone in society: individual, institutional and political. Indeed, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) bugle has already sounded, yet the battlefield action lies ahead.

As we enter this brave new world, we must remind ourselves that technology of any kind — from the wheel and the spear to the quantum supercomputer — are as much a boon to society as they can be a bane. In the end, humanity is what drives these tools to perform acts of viciousness or kindness, and our future will be either dystopian or utopian from the will of man, not machine. It is therefore our responsibility to harness these awesome superhuman forces with the proper intent — to protect members of society and not to exploit them.

Blockchain and crypto

If there is one dominant theme around the 4IR, it is the decentralisation of systems or, put another way, the distribution of authority from hierarchical institutions to peer-to-peer oversight. This is a very big idea when you think about how it can transform the control of systems from a few big players to literally everybody. The use of blockchain technologies will enable distributed control across all socio-economic assets, even changing the notion of money itself into an asset created by energy, exchanged as energy and stored as energy.

AI and machine learning

We have read the comics and seen the movies: it is no longer a question of whether the machines will outsmart us, it is simply a question of when. The singularity — the point in time where artificial cognitive capabilities become greater than mankind’s natural brainpower — will mark the climactic point of not only the 4IR, but quite possibly our human experience on this planet.

After the singularity, we may well have to place as much blind faith in digital-conscious beings as we have done over the millennia in etheric ones. While God will remain One and True in his supreme infinity, in our yearning to reach Him, we will create many lesser gods from these technologies, which may well hold a greater sway upon our day-to-day living experiences.

Fintech and digital exchanges

The defining institutions of society, perhaps even greater than sovereigns and governments (because, after all, they outlast them) are the organisations that organise and distribute capital. In the modern era of global capitalism, the big banks and stock markets have been as much a source of prosperity as the destructor of wealth. Financial crises and recessions are a result of their villainy as much as investment into private enterprise from their heroism.

One thousand years ago, the founders of the modern financial system, the Medici of Venice, triggered a wave of human development known as the Renaissance, but over time, their heirs have also been responsible for innumerable wars, famine, pestilence and inequity. As their industry enters its sunset phase, society is presented with the unique chance to create fairer and more ethical and transparent systems for local and global trade and investment.

Bio-tech and life sciences

Lifespans in developed societies have reached a plateau and are even declining, as we face the consequences of our own industrial development. Today, fossil fuels, chemical contaminants, GMOs, hormones and antibiotics are destroying our environment and bodies more than they are enriching them. This comes at a time when the world’s billionaire class are devising schemes for extending (their own) lifespans so that they can live on to enjoy riches they could not possibly spend in one lifetime.

The technologies born from this desire can also address chronic and degenerative diseases and make available palliatives for the rich and ageing inverted-pyramid societies that are greying faster than they are regenerating, so that fewer youth will be available to support a diminishing workforce or offer care and services for the infirm. The “Flower of Life”, an eternal pursuit as old as human consciousness, may soon enter the realm of the domain of science rather than fantasy.

Robotics and drones

Machines will increasingly replace people — for work that they either do not want to do, or cannot do. We call this progress. But it is also traumatic for those displaced if they are left with no alternative occupation. The 4IR will see hundreds of millions of jobs erased, wiped out forever. We have already witnessed the effect of the internet and e-commerce on retailing, or smartphones and GPS on transport. Yes, the days of flying cars will surely come in the decade ahead, despite our frequently deriding it as a futile initiative.

As the saying goes, the only constant is change. The coming 4IR will test this axiom to its breaking point. As a society, we must accommodate those consumed by the growth of automation and autonomous systems by empowering individuals with knowledge-based skills that enable self-transformation alongside the digital transformation. In the next 10 years, we must set the path for Malaysia’s transition to a high-wage, innovation economy. Though it may take generations to achieve it, it is imperative that we count ourselves part of the 4IR or else we risk becoming its victim. Our government needs to recognise that these objectives are beyond any one election cycle, or any individual leader’s term in office. Rather it is a legacy that we must leave as our contribution to and commitment for the future of our people and our beloved nation.

Dr Rais Hussin is president and CEO of EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research

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