The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Jan 20, 2016 Snapshot

Introduction

Gideon Rose

Science & Technology Dec 12, 2015 Snapshot

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity...

Klaus Schwab

Honda's latest version of the Asimo humanoid robot walks up stairs during a presentation in Zaventem near Brussels, July 16, 2014.

Economics November/December 2012 Essay

How to Make Almost Anything

In recent decades, the world has been rocked by revolutions in the digitization of computation and communication. Now the physical world is being digitized, thanks to...

Neil Gershenfeld

French engineer and professional violinist Laurent Bernadac plays the "3Dvarius", a 3D printed violin made of transparent resin, during an interview with Reuters in Paris, France, September 11, 2015.

Science & Technology March/April 2014 Essay

As Objects Go Online

As “the Internet of Things” takes hold, everyday objects are starting to communicate with each other online -- a linking of the digital and physical worlds that will...

Neil Gershenfeld and JP Vasseur

A model presents a Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin, September 4, 2013.

Media May/June 2013 Essay

The Rise of Big Data

Everyone knows that the Internet has changed how businesses operate, governments function, and people live. But a new, less visible technological trend is proving just...

Kenneth Neil Cukier and Viktor Mayer-Schoenberger

Economic Development March/April 2014 Comment

The Mobile-Finance Revolution

Most of the world’s poor lack a basic savings account, but the humble cell phone may change all that. Thanks to mobile finance, banks can now offer critical services...

Jake Kendall and Rodger Voorhies

WMD & Proliferation November/December 2013 Essay

Biology's Brave New World

All the key barriers to the artificial synthesis of viruses and bacteria have been overcome, spawning a dizzying array of perils and promises. But as the scientific...

Laurie Garrett

Germs 2.0: the first self-replicating bacteria made in a lab, May 2010.

Science & Technology July/August 2015 Comment

The Robots Are Coming

Current research in robotics is pushing the boundaries of what robots can do, bringing closer the day when robots will become as integrated into everyday life as...

Daniela Rus

A hundred humanoid communication robots called Robi perform a synchronized dance during a promotional event called 100 Robi, for the Weekly Robi Magazine, in Tokyo January 20, 2015.

Economics July/August 2014 Essay

New World Order

Machines are substituting for more types of human labor than ever before. This means that the real winners of the future will be neither the providers of cheap labor...

Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee, and Michael Spence

Robots at the "Hannover Messe" trade fair in Hanover, Germany, April 2014.

Economic Development July/August 2015 Comment

Will Humans Go the Way of Horses?

In 1983, Wassily Leontief asked if technological progress would doom human labor to being swept out of the economy the way horses once were. His answer was yes. But...

Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee

Best of 2015 July/August 2015 Comment

Same as It Ever Was

From Frankenstein onward, the idea of intelligent machines has frightened us. Many today warn of great dangers coming from robots and automation, including...

Martin Wolf

Science & Technology Oct 31, 2014 Snapshot

The Future of Cities

This year signals a major inflection point for the Internet of Everything, which will have a much bigger impact on the world and its cities than the Internet did in...

John Chambers and Wim Elfrink

A man walks past a stand with binary digits representing digital information during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Science & Technology July/August 2015 Comment

The Coming Robot Dystopia

Advanced robotics will unquestionably advance human existence. But the robotic future will also involve dramatic tradeoffs, some so significant that they could lead to...

Illah Reza Nourbakhsh

Wooden model Cylon is posed to look out of the window of the flat of its maker, Ukrainian Dmitry Balandin, in Zaporizhzhya August 6, 2013.

Science & Technology January/February 2011 Essay

The Political Power of Social Media

Discussion of the political impact of social media has focused on the power of mass protests to topple governments. In fact, social media's real potential lies in...

Clay Shirky

A sketch of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is seen on a wall at the new headquarters of Facebook in Menlo Park, California January 11, 2012.

Civil Society March/April 2011 Response

From Innovation to Revolution

Do the tools of social media make it possible for protesters to challenge their governments? Malcolm Gladwell argues that there is no evidence that they do; Clay...

Malcolm Gladwell and Clay Shirky

Labor July/August 2015 Comment

The Next  Safety Net

As the economy becomes more automated and digitized, patterns of employment will change dramatically, and social policy will need to evolve too. Instead of relying...

Nicolas Colin and Bruno Palier

Science & Technology Aug 12, 2015 Snapshot

The Moral Code

Robots are becoming smarter and more autonomous, and now researchers are working on their moral compasses. Yet developing moral robots comes with a host of technical...

Nayef Al-Rodhan

SoftBank's human-like robot named 'pepper' performs during a news conference in Chiba, Japan, June 18, 2015.

Security March/April 2014 Essay

Privacy Pragmatism

The current approach to protecting individual digital privacy and civil liberties, focusing on limiting data collection and retention, is obsolete. The time has come...

Craig Mundie

Economic Development January/February 2015 Comment

The Power of Market Creation

To create broad-based and sustainable economic growth, governments in the developing world should foster market-creating innovation—that is, the generation of new...

Bryan C. Mezue, Clayton M. Christensen, and Derek van Bever

Business January/February 2015 Comment

The Innovative State

Conventional wisdom says the state can best foster innovation by just getting out of the way. In fact, government has historically served not as a meddler in the...

Mariana Mazzucato

Economic Development November/December 2015 Essay

Food and the Transformation of Africa

African agriculture has long been a symbol of the continent's poverty. But that is starting to change. Thanks to digital technology, Africa’s leaders can today...

Kofi Annan and Sam Dryden

Foreign Affairs Anthology Series

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

Malcolm Gladwell and Clay Shirky on the relationship between social media and protests; Mariana Mazzucato on the innovative state; Kofi Annan and Sam Dryden on food and the transformation of Africa; and much more.

Table of Contents

The Drivers

The Impact

The Policy Changes

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