The 4iR and Its Discontents

Like many, I find the 4iR concept fascinating; it pushes me to contemplate how education (let alone ‘society’) might adapt. In my darker moments, I envision education being squashed by the 4iR because we are rarely timely in our response to such transformations (with some notable exceptions). In my more optimistic moments, which is where my mental musings tend to live, I question whether the entire thing is a load of rubbish. In other words, have we overestimated the impact and utility of those technological elements (AI is a great example) that represent the 4iR? Have we reduced ourselves to a world of algorithms to the extent that we are willing to let the algorithms programme our lives, effectively leading to a conformist society…a sort of monoculture?