The Fourth Industrial Revolution From the past to the future. A new technological wave is breaking. On some accounts, this wave could be as great as any seen previously. The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution is associated with the emergence of a whole new class of technologies with the potential to be tomorrow’s GPT.24 These include machine learning, Big Data, robotics, bio-technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI). The rise of the robot has well and truly begun.25 Machines, and indeed robots, are not of course new. Nor are fears of them rising up and taking jobs and control. The Luddites had the same concerns in the 19th century. This time, though, seems a bit different. 24 25  Klingenberg (2017). Ford (2015). 11  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  11  These machines, unlike their predecessors during the first three industrial revolutions, are capable of thinking as well as doing. Although this might sound like a small step for humankind, it is a potential game-changer. So far in human history, humans have kept one-step-ahead of the machine by gravitating towards tasks out of robotic reach. That has meant cognitive tasks. This spawned the growth of educational institutions, with universal primary and then secondary education and then the rapid expansion of colleges and universities. In other words, humans used the self-same neurological advantage over machines as had earlier put them on an entirely different evolutionary arc to other animals. Except, unlike with animals, it is not clear humans will retain their cognitive lead over machines.

Creativity is not the result of random lightning strikes of inspiration. It is about creating the right environment for lightening to strike in the first place. The shapes and colours of our offices are important. Eating and sleeping patterns matter. Walking helps. Meeting new people matters. New experiences work wonders (and wonder).43 Creativity does not require an apple to land coincidentally on the head of a genius, any more than it requires the coincidence of a Watt, a Hargreaves and an Arkwright in the late 18th century in latitudes North of Stockport. Creativity is a core skill in us all – indeed, the one skill we know is uniquely human. But nurturing it requires the right environment, as Ken Robinson’s reflections on our educational systems make clear. Apples are less likely to fall on our heads if we are deskbound. This point is not confined to creativity. Today’s educational system is heavily skewed towards developing cognitive skills in the young. This made sense during the first three Industrial Revolutions as humans sought to keep ahead of machines that were long brawn and short brain. As machines’ cognitive capacity grew, so too did the demand for institutions offering higher-level cognitive skills, such as colleges and universities. 41  Available at https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity?language=en Available, as if you were bothered, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8ukYrWXiI0 43 Available at https://thebestyoumagazine.co/power-of-creativity-by-prof-philip-bond/ 42  17  All speeches are available online at www.bankofengland.co.uk/speeches  17  These institutions were the right response to the challenges of first three Industrial Revolutions.