World Economic Forum (WEF) founder Klaus Schwab says that humankind is transitioning into “The Intelligent Age” powered by technologies coming from the fourth industrial revolution at the World Governments Summit.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, UAE today, Schwab said that the fourth industrial revolution — which will lead to the fusion of our physical, biological, and digital identities — is powering a global transition of humankind into a new era called The Intelligent Age in which “humankind will enjoy many more opportunities and possibilities.”
“We are speaking about the transition of humankind into a new era, which is not just characterized by technological change — a new era where humankind will enjoy many more opportunities and possibilities”
Klaus Schwab, World Governments Summit, 2024
“Now, we are not speaking just about the fourth industrial revolution; we are speaking about the transition of humankind into a new era, which is not just characterized by technological change — a new era where humankind will enjoy many more opportunities and possibilities,” said Schwab in his speech entitled “Civilizations of Tomorrow: Built to Fail or Rise?“
“It’s a transition. We first had the transition about a hundred years ago from the agricultural society to the industrial society, but today we speak about transitioning into what I would call ‘the intelligent age,‘” he added.
How did Schwab arrive at this conclusion?
ChatGPT told him.
“I had about 20 pages of text, and I asked ChatGPT, ‘Summarize the text, and tell me now, based on our discussion, how will the new era — the intelligent era — will look like,” he said.
“Envisioning a future propelled by the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution we see a NEW DAWN of human civilization”
Klaus Schwab, World Governments Summit, 2024
According to Schwab, ChatGPT told him:
“Envisioning a future propelled by the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution we see a NEW DAWN of human civilization — one that harmonizes technology with the deepest needs and aspirations of humanity.
“This mission unfolds within a society where artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D-printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing become the foundations of our daily life, yet are guiding by a profound respect for human values, creativity, and the natural world.”
“With this new intelligent age, technology is not merely a tool or an extension of human capabilities; it is a partner in shaping the world where every individual has the opportunity to reach their full potential,” the WEF founder added.
Concerning the ethical use of artificial intelligence, Schwab told government leaders:
“We need ethical frameworks to make sure we keep the ghost of AI in the bottle and we have only the beneficial benefits that we do not create a Utopian future”
Klaus Schwab, World Governments Summit, 2024
Schwab concluded his short speech by saying that the fourth industrial revolution should not move civilization towards a cold bureaucracy or a technocracy, but rather towards what he called “humanocracy,” where “we use technology to use all our human potential and to create even a better world.”
“We don’t want to move into using the fourth industrial revolution into a cold bureaucracy; we don’t want to move into a technocracy; we want to move into what I would call a ‘Humanocracy'”
Klaus Schwab, World Governments Summit, 2024
Following his speech, Schwab spoke briefly with the summit’s host on what the combination of technologies will look like in 10 years.
The WEF founder regurgitated what he’d been saying for many years that there will be a “fusion of our physical, our digital, and our biological dimensions” in this “new world.”
This year, the name of the event was changed from World Government Summit to the plural World Governments Summit.
At last year’s World Government Summit, Schwab said:
“Our life in 10 years from now will be completely different, very much affected, and who masters those technologies, in some way, will be the masters of the world”
Klaus Schwab, World GOvernment Summit, 2023
“I think the fourth industrial revolution will be in our mind for quite some years to come,” said Schwab in 2023.
“But my deep concern is that those technologies, if we don’t work together on a global scale, if we do not formulate, shape together the necessary policies, they will escape our power to master those technologies,” he added.
