As the world moves out of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), elements of the fifth are already becoming evident in our daily lives, given that the next industrial revolution, 5IR, is one through which we should see technology increasingly improve our lives.
Industry 4.0 provided us with tools such as the internet of things, as well as interconnected devices and systems. While talking fridges never became a thing, this technology has been used for security systems, for example, and alerts on your phone when someone is at your front door, allowing the ability to view who is there via an IP camera.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning entered the scene during 4IR, allowing companies to get rid of mundane tasks, as well as improve decision-making through the use of big data and business intelligence.
Robots became part of our existence. Not only are they present in some people’s daily lives, such as self-driving cars like those made by Tesla, as well as robotic vacuum cleaners, but also in manufacturing.
Industry 5.0 will see further use of these technologies, which are still being enhanced, as it brings in the human element. People will use AI, for example, in bookkeeping to have the systems automatically capture invoices.
We are already seeing applications that endeavour to make our lives easier: Word has a text prediction tool that guesses at what you are going to type next and allows you to hit “Tab” if it’s correct, saving some time when writing.
The mistakes AI currently makes doesn’t render it useless, as the systems will learn based on people’s feedback.
This addition to the Office Suite takes the well-known grammar and spelling checker, automatically fixing some words, to the next level, beyond Word’s offering of providing readability statistics, depending on the tone you want the piece to reflect.
Of course, this system isn’t perfect. Typing the now defunct retailer’s name, CNA, always results in it being renamed to “CAN”. Oops!
Adobe’s PDF reader has a built-in AI assistant that offers to summarise documents. It also offers solutions such as pulling out the PDF’s main themes, or summarising the conclusion. It can also analyse and generate related blog post ideas. In fact, its e-mail summary is fairly accurate and useful.
Otter.ai (a clever use of a top-level domain) offers an assistant that can join meetings, record and transcribe. Otter.ai does, however, battle with our South African accents, and rather odd sentences sometimes come through that are nonsensical.
Google has taken to putting AI-generated summaries of search results at the top of the page. Unfortunately, it doesn’t currently back these up with links so that the information can be verified. Given that this summary is then followed by a flurry of sponsored items, finding decent research on Google is now a near impossible task.
Many people, including myself, have started using ChatGPT to find research because, if you are specific enough, it provides links to the valuable research you are looking for.
There’s more in the works. Adobe has hinted at tools such as those that can turn sketches into complete designs and then manipulate it until it’s exactly what you want. Coming soon to a computer near you is also the ability to create and move around two-dimensional art as if it was 3D.
None of these are anywhere near perfect. They all need human intervention. Most tools acknowledge this, stating that all the output needs to be double-checked.
Adobe goes so far as to state: “Do not use generative AI features to seek legal, medical, financial, or other kinds of professional advice or any opinions, judgements, or recommendations without conducting your own independent consultation or research. Generative AI features cannot replace advice provided by a qualified professional and do not form any such relationship (for example, an attorney-client relationship).”
However, the mistakes AI currently makes doesn’t render it useless, as the systems will learn based on people’s feedback. As a result, it will become an integral part of our lives.
Yet, the tools we will see increasingly used during Industry 5.0 don’t make people redundant. Far from it. With the correct use, work will be enhanced and new types of careers created. We just need to ensure everyone has access to the education they will need to benefit.
And therein lies the rub.
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