​何谓“第四次工业革命”？

何谓“第四次工业革命”？

It was in these Swiss mountains that the world was first introduced to the phrase the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and it's been a hot topic among academics, politicians and business leaders ever since.

正是在瑞士山区，人们第一次听到「第四次工业革命」这个词汇，此后它一直是学者、政治人物、商业领袖之间的火热话题。

But what exactly does it mean?

可它到底是什么意思呢？

The term "Fourth Industrial Revolution" was coined by the founder of the World Economic Forum, a former professor named Klaus Schwab.

第四次工业革命这个字由世界经济论坛创始人克劳斯·史瓦布教授所创。

Schwab wrote a book with that title to describe an era marked by a:

史瓦布写了一本书，标题就是「第四次工业革命」，描述这样一个时代：

"Technological revolution that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres."

「一场正在进行的科技革命，模糊了实体、数位、生物领域之间的界线。」

Let's break that down.

我们来分析一下。

Technologies like artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles or the Internet of Things are becoming ingrained in our day-to-day lives, and even our bodies.

AI、自动驾驶车、物联网等科技都已变成我们日常生活的一部分，甚至应用到人体。

Think of voice-activated virtual assistants, face ID recognition or healthcare sensors.

像是语音交互助手、脸部身分识别、健保感应。

Schwab first presented his vision of the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting here in Davos in 2016.

2016 年达沃斯世界经济论坛上，史瓦布首次提出这样的远见。

But to understand the idea, we need to go much further back in history to industrial revolution number one.

但为了弄懂这概念，我们得追溯到更远的历史，先看看第一次工业革命。

The First Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain around 1760 and spread to Europe and North America through the early 1800s.

第一次工业革命大约始于 1760 年的英国，19 世纪早期又扩散至欧洲与北美。

It was powered by a major invention: the steam engine.

工业革命的动力来自一项主要发明：蒸汽引擎。

The result?

结果如何？

New manufacturing processes, the creation of factories and a booming textiles industry.

崭新的制程、工厂的诞生、欣欣向荣的纺织产业。

From the late 1800s, the Second Industrial Revolution was marked by mass production and new industries like steel, oil and electricity.

19 世纪晚期之后，大规模制造以及钢铁、石油、电力等新产业打造出第二次工业革命。

The light bulb, the telephone and internal combustion engine were a few of the major inventions of this era.

灯泡、电话、内燃机只是其中几项这时代的主要发明。

The Third Industrial Revolution, sometimes known as the Digital Revolution, occurred in the second half of the twentieth century.

第三次工业革命，也就是数位革命发生在 20 世纪下半叶。

In just a few decades we saw the invention of the semiconductor, the personal computer and the internet.

短短数十年我们看见半导体、个人电脑、网际网路的发明。

So what separates the Fourth Industrial Revolution from the Third?

那么第四次工业革命和第三次有什么差异呢？

Experts say the main difference is that technology is merging more and more with humans' lives and that technological change is happening faster than ever.

专家表示科技与人类生活益加密不可分，且科技变迁进行得更快速。

Consider this: It took 75 years for 100 million users to adopt the telephone.

想想看，一亿人口花了 75 年才把电话用得顺手。

Instagram signed up 100 million users in just two years, while Pokemon Go caught that amount in one month.

Instagram 却只花了两年就有一亿个用户；而Pokemon游戏才花了一个月就达到相同数目。

3D printing is just one example of fast-paced technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

第四次工业革命浪潮下，科技日行千里，3D 列印只是其中一项。

The industry has gone from a business idea to big business, with 3D printer shipments expected to increase from just under 200,000 in 2015 to 2.4 million in 2020.

整个产业从商业发想迈向前景看好的事业，预计在 2020 年 3D 列印货物会从 2015 年的 20 万件增加至 240 万件。

Today, you can have a hip replacement from a 3D-printed bone or use a 3D-printed bionic arm.

在今天我们可以用 3D 列印出来的骨头进行髋部修复手术；也有 3D 列印仿生手臂。

Talk about blurring the line between humans and technology, right?

我们谈的是人类与科技之结合，对吧？

This new era of technology is driving a lot of innovation.

这个科技新时代促进了许多创新发明。

You can see in this chart the number of patents related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, for things like 3D printing or AI, has been climbing up and up since early 2000.

你可以看到这张图表里，与第四次工业革命相关的专利，例如 3D 列印、AI，从 2000 年开始数量就不断爬升。

Organizations are embracing new technologies to make their businesses more efficient, similar to how they embraced the steam engine during the First Industrial Revolution.

各个组织纷纷拥抱新科技来让商业运作更有效率，就像当年第一次工业革命他们采用蒸汽引擎那样。

But some companies, and governments, are struggling to keep up with the fast pace of technological change.

然而对于某些公司或政府，想追上科技的快速变迁并非易事。

Research shows innovators, investors and shareholders benefit the most from innovation.

研究显示发明家、投资人、股东们从创新发明中获益最多。

The risk is that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is making inequality, which is already a big issue, even worse.

风险在于，不平等问题原本就很严重，第四次工业革命却让它更恶化。

One study found billionaires have driven almost 80 percent of the 40 main breakthrough innovations over the last 40 years.

一项研究显示在过去 40 年间、40 项突破性创新中，亿万富翁们就带动了其中八成。

That's a problem when the richest one percent of households already own nearly half of the world's wealth.

当最富裕的百分之一家庭已经握有全球一半的财富，这个问题已不容忽视。

Experts warn we are in a "winner-takes-all" economy, where high-skilled workers are rewarded with high pay, and the rest of workers are left out.

专家警告我们的经济规则是赢者全拿，这让高技术人才薪资优渥，剩余的工作者自求多福。

Studies confirm technologies like AI will eliminate some jobs and create demand for new skills that many workers don't have.

研究指出 AI 之类的科技将消灭某些工作，并创造出对于新技巧的需求，而这是许多工作者未具备的。

Privacy concerns are another issue as the Fourth Industrial Revolution turns every company into a tech company.

而当第四次工业革命促成趋向科技公司的转型，隐私问题也是另一个问题。

Industries from food to retail to banking are going digital, and they're collecting a lot more data from their customers along the way.

许多产业像是食品、零售、银行业都在迈向数位化，与此同时他们搜集了大量顾客资料。

Users are starting to worry that companies know too much about their private digital lives.

使用者们开始担心那些公司过于深入个人的数位活动。

The World Economic Forum says a majority of leaders don't have confidence their organizations are ready for the changes associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

面对第四次工业革命的冲击，世界经济论坛主张，多数领导者没有信心自家组织已准备完全。

With tech changing fast every day, it's time to catch up.

当科技每天都快速变化，是时候追上它了。