The fourth industrial revolution, marked by rapid innovation in automation, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology and other areas, is well and truly settled in.
Last week, it was the talk of Davos2017 (WEF), where Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella worried it could lead to social unrest or excessive regulation. “If we don’t get it right we are going to have a vicious cycle,” Mr. Nadella said at a panel on AI.
Economists assert that in the long run, at least, such revolutions don’t lead to mass unemployment. I’ve written previously about how automation creates more and new kinds of jobs. It is one reason America is approaching full employment, according to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, despite more than two hundred years of industrialization.
Read the full article by Christopher Mims: christopher.mims@wsj.com
