IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2021 - 32

Opinion
history of getting around without a car. Ride-sharing
is reborn as a technology with overwhelming potential
and therefore overwhelming importance, a part
of an inevitable future. Such a revolutionary technology
will require " talent and culture to be rethought in
light of new skill requirements and the need to attract
and retain the right sort of human capital " [3, p. 59].
Public transit was developed to meet the needs of
people, but now people must redesign themselves
to meet the needs of Uber and Lyft. In this way, the
alchemy of 4IR transforms an old idea-mobility
without a car-into a new (private) technology that
the world has no choice but to embrace.
But is this actually a revolution, a radical break
from the past? No, it is not. The claim that things
are different now depends on overlooking both
the histories of new technologies and the futures of
old technologies. 4IR technologies did not simply
spring into existence; they are based on and tied to
the technologies of the past (car-sharing relies upon
centuries of work in automotive and transportation
engineering, not to mention the internet and mobile
phones). And, old technologies remain part of our
world even as new ones emerge (we use Uber but
we do not stop walking or taking public transit).
The " revolution " is not a description of how the
world is being shaped by technologies. Rather, it is a
narrative that sorts technologies into new and old, innovative
and irrelevant, in order to promote some technologies
over others. It is rhetoric, not explanation. It is a
claim by those who wish to determine the future that
the future has already been determined in their favor.
It is, therefore, essential that we ask: whose interests
does 4IR serve, and who does it leave out? The
idea was designed and promoted by the extremely
exclusive WEF [4]-[6]. Seen from the perspective
of those outside the WEF's circle, however, the revolution
is less appealing. The expansion of the tech
sector under 4IR will likely expand the race and
gender disparities already present in that industry
[7]. And for many developing countries, adopting
4IR technologies means becoming dependent on
developed-countries' tech firms [8], [9]. Claiming
that 4IR is inevitable means claiming that people
have no choice but to adopt 4IR technologies. But it
is manipulative and unjust to compel communities
who did not contribute to designing the 4IR future to
nonetheless participate in it.
32
4Ir Is buIlT on the discredited logic of technological
determinism: the idea that technologies contain futures
and that the use of a particular technology implies the
inevitability of the future dictated by that technology
[10]. This alone is reason enough to reject the whole
concept. But 4IR is also inherently inequitable in its
determinism. For some-the WEF, the male-dominated
tech industry, and developed countries-4IR is a promise
that the future can be determined through technology.
For others-developing countries, marginalized
groups, and those of us without " the right sort of human
capital " -4IR is a threat that our futures will be determined
by technology.
Adopting the 4IR narrative means relinquishing
our stake in the future. It's not worth it.
 References
[1] The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Dec. 17, 2015.
Accessed: Nov. 14, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCGV1tNBoeU
[2] i-SCOOP, " The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here-Are
you ready? " Deloitte Rep., 2018. Accessed: Nov. 14, 2019.
[Online]. Available: https://www.i-scoop.eu/industry-4-0/
deloitte-fourth-industrial-revolution-2018-report/
[3] K. Schwab, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, 1st ed.
New York, NY, USA: Crown Business, 2016.
[4] M. M. Ojala, " The making of a global elite:
Global economy and the Davos man in the
financial times 2001-2011, " Ph.D. dissertation,
2017. [Online]. Available: https://helda.helsinki.fi/
handle/10138/229494?show=full
[5] A. R. Sorkin, " A hefty price for entry to Davos, " The New
York Times, DealBook column, Jan. 24, 2011. Accessed:
Nov. 17, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://dealbook.
nytimes.com/2011/01/24/a-hefty-price-for-entry-to-davos/
[6] D. Yanofsky, " Here's the list of everyone attending
Davos, " Quartz, Jan. 13, 2016. Accessed: Nov. 17, 2019.
[Online]. Available: https://qz.com/592854/heres-thelist-of-everyone-attending-davos/
[7]
S. U. Noble, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search
Engines Reinforce Racism. New York, NY, USA: New
York Univ. Press, 2018.
[8] N. Korac-Kakabadse, A. Kouzmin, and A. KoracKakabadse,
" Information technology and development:
Creating 'IT harems', fostering new colonialism or
solving 'wicked' policy problems? " Public Admin.
Develop., vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 171-184, 2000, doi:
10.1002/1099-162X(200008)20:3<171::AIDPAD141>3.0.CO;2-9.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCGV1tNBoeU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCGV1tNBoeU https://www.i-scoop.eu/industry-4-0/deloitte-fourth-industrial-revolution-2018-report/ https://www.i-scoop.eu/industry-4-0/deloitte-fourth-industrial-revolution-2018-report/ https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/229494?show=full https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/229494?show=full https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/a-hefty-price-for-entry-to-davos/ https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/a-hefty-price-for-entry-to-davos/ https://www.qz.com/592854/heres-thelist-of-everyone-attending-davos/ https://www.qz.com/592854/heres-thelist-of-everyone-attending-davos/

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2021

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