Birth of Industry 5.0: Making Sense of Big Data with Artificial Intelligence, “The Internet of Things” and Next-Generation Technology Policy

Abstract

Driverless cars with artificial intelligence (AI) and automated supermarkets run by collaborative robots (cobots) working without human supervision have sparked off new debates: what will be the impacts of extreme automation, turbocharged by the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, and the Industry 4.0, on Big Data and omics implementation science? The IoT builds on (1) broadband wireless internet connectivity, (2) miniaturized sensors embedded in animate and inanimate objects ranging from the house cat to the milk carton in your smart fridge, and (3) AI and cobots making sense of Big Data collected by sensors. Industry 4.0 is a high-tech strategy for manufacturing automation that employs the IoT, thus creating the Smart Factory. Extreme automation until “everything is connected to everything else” poses, however, vulnerabilities that have been little considered to date. First, highly integrated systems are vulnerable to systemic risks such as total network collapse in the event of failure of one of its parts, for example, by hacking or Internet viruses that can fully invade integrated systems. Second, extreme connectivity creates new social and political power structures. If left unchecked, they might lead to authoritarian governance by one person in total control of network power, directly or through her/his connected surrogates. We propose Industry 5.0 that can democratize knowledge coproduction from Big Data, building on the new concept of symmetrical innovation. Industry 5.0 utilizes IoT, but differs from predecessor automation systems by having three-dimensional (3D) symmetry in innovation ecosystem design: (1) a built-in safe exit strategy in case of demise of hyperconnected entrenched digital knowledge networks. Importantly, such safe exists are orthogonal—in that they allow “digital detox” by employing pathways unrelated/unaffected by automated networks, for example, electronic patient records versus material/article trails on vital medical information; (2) equal emphasis on both acceleration and deceleration of innovation if diminishing returns become apparent; and (3) next generation social science and humanities (SSH) research for global governance of emerging technologies: “Post-ELSI Technology Evaluation Research” (PETER). Importantly, PETER considers the technology opportunity costs, ethics, ethics-of-ethics, framings (epistemology), independence, and reflexivity of SSH research in technology policymaking. Industry 5.0 is poised to harness extreme automation and Big Data with safety, innovative technology policy, and responsible implementation science, enabled by 3D symmetry in innovation ecosystem design.