September 2019

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution – or Industry 4.0 – begins to challenge our perception of what it means to be human, it’s time to remind ourselves of what makes our species unique. Humans are able to encounter entirely new situations and respond to them by drawing parallels between their past experiences and their existing knowledge. Toby Walsh, professor of computer science at the National Information and Communications Technology Australia, refers to this as ‘common-sense reasoning’, and it’s something that can’t be replicated in machines.

It’s incredibly easy to get carried away if you let your mind wander into the possibilities of technological evolution. Hollywood’s obsession with sci-fi over the years has had many of us conjuring up images of what is possible – how super will supercomputers really be? How close will we get to Minority Report’s predicted style of advertising? And if we want to get dark, could AI kill its own creator?

Earlier this year, the National Office of statistics revealed the UK’s employment rate to be at its lowest in more than 45 years. This, combined with the major shift happening within the vast majority of sectors due to the latest advances in technology, is creating and replacing many active roles within workplaces.

Ever since the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation in May 2018, businesses have been treading on eggshells. Although they were given plenty of time in which to get their cybersecurity protocols shipshape, the risk of monumental fines made business leaders sit up and take note – it was time to act.