The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. These advances are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril. The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop, how organisations create value and even what it means to be human. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than just technology-driven change; it is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policy-makers and people from all income groups and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, human-centred future. The real opportunity is to look beyond technology, and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations and communities.
Robot companions are coming into our homes. How human should they be?
Robot companions are becoming increasingly common. Questions remain over how 'human' they should be though.
If two countries fought a cyber war, what might it look like?
Bill Buchanan, head of the Cyber Academy, Edinburgh Napier University, on the potential consequences of cyber attacks.
Your smartphone could soon be learning from other smartphones
Artificial intelligence could allow devices connected to the Internet of Things to learn from each other.
Why AI still has less common sense than a toddler
The Winograd Schema Challenge tests how much common sense some types of robots have. It turns out they're not doing so well.
If you're addicted to your phone, you might be one of these personality types
A new study has examined smartphone addiction and personality types.
A lesson from golf to make you more productive
Tech tools alone aren’t enough to make you more effective at work – you also need the skills to use them.
Tech giants have found a way to fight extremism online. Is it working?
Google parent company Alphabet, with help from Facebook and Twitter, is using videos on social media to combat radicalization.
Space submarines are being developed to explore Saturn's and Jupiter's moons
NASA has committed funding to submarines for exploring oceans and lakes in space.
Millions of internet users have taken a digital detox – do you need one?
We're spending increasing amounts of time online, and it’s affecting our personal and professional lives, a survey finds.
Chess, card fraud and what we need to do about it
Contactless cards present a significant fraud risk, and this is what we can do about it, writes Steven J. Murdoch.
NASA is getting ready to send a spacecraft closer to the sun than ever before
NASA's Solar Probe Plus mission is set to launch in 2018, and will travel to within 4 million miles of the sun. That's 7 times closer than ever before.
These tiny robots could transform modern medicine
Researchers have developed nanoscale soft micromachines that could help treat disease.