Productivity changes the relations of production, and technological change will change the way human society operates. The widespread application of a new generation of digital technologies represented by big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, 5G communications, artificial intelligence and so on will set off a new round of technological and industrial revolutions, and at the same time have a huge impact on the world's pattern of production, economic production, social operation, distribution of wealth, forms of organization, and even the way of existence of human beings themselves. The more uncertain the future is, the more people want to have certainty.
The digital age has brought about many major shifts, and how to recognize these changes has become a major issue standing at the doorstep of the digital age. These questions affect the judgment of policy makers, business elites, every working person and college students about the future.
People's Publishing House's book "The Wave of the Digital Economy--New Trends and Possibilities for the Future" will look at the future in a simple but profound way, and the ordinary will be seen as strange, which draws on the epistemology and methodology of Musk's "First Principle" to analyze the future in a simple but profound way. It draws on the epistemology and methodology of Musk's "First Principle" to analyze complex and changing phenomena with simple but profound principles. The book lists eight key questions and explores the changes that could result.
Now that protectionism and anti-globalization are on the rise, everyone is concerned about the fate of globalization. Where will globalization go in the digital age? The first chapter focuses on the fate of globalization in the digital era. From the perspective of globalization's power mechanism, it can be seen that in the long run, the speed of the scientific and technological revolution led by the new generation of digital technology to form industrial applications will have an important impact on globalization.
Looking at China from the perspective of the world, after decades of high-speed growth and a per capita GDP of 10,000 US dollars, what does China's economy rely on in the second half of the year? Chapter 2 focuses on the outlook of China's economic growth in the digital era. After its latecomer's advantage has gradually reached its peak, the second half of China's economy will mainly rely on technological innovation and a mega domestic market, which are closely related to the technological revolution led by the new generation of digital technology.
In terms of technological innovation, which technology will play a broad leading role in the technological and industrial revolution? Chapter 3 focuses on finding the generalized technology that will lead the new round of technological revolution. After comparing 5G communication, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, energy technology, biotechnology, and space technology, it is found that the technology related to 5G communication and data intelligence is most likely to lead the new round of technological and industrial revolution.
Every industrial revolution also brings about changes in the distribution of wealth in society, which is a matter of immediate concern to people in general. Chapter 4 focuses on the issue of income disparity in the digital age, and finds that digital technology can both increase and decrease the gap between the rich and the poor. Digital technology promotes technological monopoly and concentration of wealth, but at the same time, digitalization accelerates the enjoyment and diffusion of knowledge***, which is conducive to narrowing the gap. The key is to learn to use digitalization to empower yourself.
Besides the income gap, more people are concerned about the risk of their jobs being replaced by AI. Chapter 5 tries to find the boundary where AI replaces human intelligence, i.e., to find where the unique advantages of human intelligence that are irreplaceable lie. Data intelligence has advantages, but it also has its boundaries. The "unknown unknowns" are the shortcoming of AI when it comes to predicting the future, because such things are simply impossible to predict from information in the known world.
For the kinds of organizations in which everyone lives, the Fourth Wave will reshape organizations. Chapter 6 will reveal that in the digital age, organizations of all kinds will achieve a two-way movement and organic combination of centralized and distributed, with big data facilitating the centralization of information, but innovation still requiring distributed, flat, polycentric structures. At the same time, the edge intelligence that solves problems close to home is more conducive to efficiency.
With the rise of the digital economy, digital currencies based on blockchain technology will also gain wide circulation. Chapter 7 will focus on the impact of digital currencies on the financial system. Bitcoin's natural flaw is the lack of value backing, Facebook's launch of Libra and the issuance of central bank digital currencies by sovereign states are two ideas that will have an impact on expanding financial application scenarios, reforming financial regulation, and subverting the cross-border payment system.
In the last chapter of the book, it will return to man himself. Kant said that human beings can only serve as ends and not means. The final chapter will look at how individuals can survive and find meaning and value in the digital age. There is a greater need to cultivate creative thinking skills, the ability to grasp tacit knowledge, the ability to "human-computer collaboration", and at the same time, to create a "second life" in the virtual world, breaking through the unidirectional limitations of time, and realizing a diversified existence in both the real world and the virtual world.
This book strives to look forward to the fourth wave from a multifaceted thinking model and a variety of cognitive coordinates, so it may not be completely professional in many specialized areas, and will inevitably make a mockery of the family. But what this book offers is not a conclusion, but a way to analyze the problem, or simply to play the role of the announcer of the wave of the digital economy, tapping people on the shoulder in the middle of their busy schedules and reminding them to lift their heads and look into the distance: "Look, the digital age is here!"
The wave of the digital economy has enough room for imagination, and by plugging in the wings of digitization, everyone can fly higher and farther.
This article comes from the foreword of the book "The Wave of Digital Economy - New Trends and Possibilities for the Future" published by People's Publishing House, and has been abridged due to space limitations