INDUSTRY 4.0: AN INSIGHT INTO THE SCOPES AND CHALLENGES OF THE 4 TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION (original) (raw)

We live in a world where digitalization and artificial intelligence has taken over most of the domains. The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed pushed us towards adopting a digital transformation within a few months which was otherwise expected to take over by a few years. The transformation was quite visible in many areas such as banking, billing, shopping, medical, education, etc. With the advent of better technologies taking up tasks, the impact of the next Industrial Revolution (IR)-Industry 4.0 is all set to take over almost every field. The Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0 is a complete transfiguration into the digital world by the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and smarter machines. In this paper, a review on the impact of Industry 4.0 on some of the currently dominant areas such as manufacturing/production industry, consumer, economic sectors, finance/banking sectors, agriculture, education, and healthcare are discussed. Also, the challenges and crises that the Industrial Revolution could bring about in these areas are evaluated. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bound to bring a radical change compared to all other Industrial Revolutions. Digital innovations with blockchain technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning algorithms, 3D Printing, and the Internet of Things are expected to hit the global industry. Apart from this, there would be a substantial reduction in human efforts and labour, but there would definitely be a rise the employment opportunities, like coding of machine learning and AI algorithms, and training the machines. Professionals need to continuously upgrade their knowledge. Another major challenge that Industry 4.0 is expected to face is that technology could be misused, especially since all the data generated is bound to be digitalized. On a brighter note, it is believed that the Fourth IR could bring about a smart future, but it could also be a challenge in the far future. The emergence of Industry 4.0 may not leave the human race unemployed, but humans need to get ready to go along with intelligent and smart machines, which can even predict the future. Hence, we need to make sure that we develop our skills accordingly.