Type: scientific informative op-ed, English

Spelling the End

Through the course of numerous wars, rise and fall of nations, plagues, and controversy, the ever-
creative humans have taken onto account that survival and innovation are extremely vital to preserve the
only intelligent life we currently know of. From making the first ever human-controlled fire on Africa to
carrying the no-wick torch used in the 2018 Asian Games – technology, no doubt, has been integral upon
the growth of society and carried us over the sights of future.

In order to survive, there are needs to be acquired to make part of the factor and making profit
out of it was deemed necessary. A national economy has been the backbone of many nations from the past
up until now, enough reason for the powerful empires of the past to scavenge native lands for resources
and trade. More galleons have been produced, more tea leaves have been grinded, and more gold has been
mined.

The economy of the Western World crept slowly with the rest of the world up until the Great
Divergence happened. According to the Maddison economy estimate of the colonial times, the Great
Divergence happened when the West suddenly had greater economy than Medieval India, Qing China,
Islamic World, Tokugawa Japan, and Joseon Korea combined.

The reason for this was the Western World, mainly Great Britain, has embraced its own
technological advancements and made a significant economic transition from agricultural to industrial
that reduces manpower, makes resource gathering easier, and doubles the amount of production.
Basically, the West was upgrading and the East was lagging behind.

The upsurge of Western purchasing power motivated the European kingdoms to change the game
of society. Their focus shifted to technology to further empower the economy and soon, the world - fueling
the start of the Industrial Revolution.

The first phase of the revolution encompassed the traditional thinking of humans and boosted the
world’s innovative processes. Forbes confirmed that the IR 1.0 started in Great Britain in the 1760s and
ended in the 1860s. Steam and water power were rampant against human efforts. Mass production of
textiles redefined both the concept of engineering and Britain’s economy as a whole. Galleons were now
steam powered- mechanized production overthrew manual work.

The second phase of the revolution highlighted the usage of electricity for essential inventions,
dubbed as the “the most important engineering achievement of the 20th century” by the National
Academy of Engineering. Streets were lighted by incandescent bulbs, the first ever modern power station
was built in England, petroleum refining was initiated in Scotland, William Henry Perkin discovered
synthetic dye, the first automobiles appeared, and the first-ever form of telecommunication was made
possible by a telegraph. IR 2.0 definitely held the innovative bar in its hands and placed it even higher as
it aided the world to better standards of living, higher literacy, and economic progress from the end of IR
1.0 until moments before the First World War in 1914.

Since then, three simultaneous eras have occurred before the Third Industrial Revolution.
 Technological advancements have been proved to increase influence in key philosophies and
branches of knowledge and innovation throughout the years. It was initially intended for reducing human
effort, easier living, more goods and services, and better societal growth; yet its complexity grew from
harnessing steam machines to establishing national defenses, mutating lethal pathogens, making toys of
war, and development of super weapons – two of which landed in Japan in 1945 which killed an estimate
of 300,000 people according to the post-war report of The Joint Commission, igniting the Atomic Age.
This inflicted fear on mankind, wondering if instruments that we use for strengthening our survival and
making life easier will suddenly be gateways for utter omnicide.

On a brighter side, the industry of aviation has been improving more than ever. The usage of
steam engine for hundreds of years has been diminished by the introduction of gas turbine engines, thus
igniting the Jet Age. Crossing countries by multiple propliners was exhausting; the Jet Age gave way for
crossing oceans and continents higher, faster, and much more comfortable – redefining the means of
travelling as a whole.

When the Soviet Union and United States of America rose to become international superpowers
after the Second World War, a creeping match of indirect contests made way for the “coldest war ever”.
The two world giants decided that the Earth might be too fragile to hold contests in, so the exosphere
won’t mind. American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts were molded to existence. It was a cosmonaut
that was the first in space in 1961, but an astronaut was first to land on the moon in 1966. The competitive
nature of both countries fired up the Space Age, where humans gained knowledge about cosmic origins
and possible nature of the planet we live on.

All of these discoveries and new knowledge made humans think that there should be something
more behind the walls of turbine engines, electricity, telegraphs, rockets, atomic bombs, and bulky
machines. The humans desired more, and the humans got it. Since then, the Third Industrial Revolution
was being shaped into reality.

Also known as the Digital Age, IR 3.0 focused on shifting the mechanical nature of the industry to
a flexible digital landscape. The heart of this revolution focused on digital logic circuits, thus making the
computer, digital cellphone, and the best thing ever on mankind – the internet. The far-reaching goal of
this revolution was to shift the force-dependent machines to computing-systemized instruments to
reduced work. Technology has been in dramatic improvement since the 1970s up until the 2000s, as
transportation, communication, and system of life has been easier.

The estimated economic impact of the revolutions has been so great that all developed countries
have a post-industrial economy, as stated by the World Trade Organization. Advanced economies with
these industries make up 60.8% of global GDP based on nominal values, as reported by the International
Monetary Fund.

However, as the bar rose higher than before, concerns for human ability to create such powerful
technologies went all over the place. Privacy, copyright, and censorship issues were rampant and the
Information Age was born and integrated in the 21st century. As bytes grow from mega to terra, data
storage was deemed to be a major step. Job distributions continue to raise international economies due to
information-intensive occupations, with South Korea’s ICT Development Index Rank goes higher with a
record of 8.93 in First place, according to the World Atlas. The Republic of Korea had an economy worth
$83 billion in 1980 and a massive $2 trillion economy in 2017, as reported by the International Monetary
Fund.
 Humans continue to create things that transcend past legacies. From steam to microchips,
propliners to a Boeing 747, and telegraphs to an instant chat, the brains of a post-monkey species yearn
for more improvement of life and a new systematic way of society. As we are currently moving towards the
IR 4.o, it cannot be ignored that as soon as we enter this new phase, the amount of fretfulness and worry
expands throughout the minds of those who witness the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

This new phase focuses on more technological advancements that encompass the values of the
human body and automation which make our own bodies appear useless. Robotics to substitute with
human labor that could eventually decide for their own, self-driving cars who no longer need humans to
operate, nanotechnology that modifies atoms and molecules of an organism, 3D printing techniques, and
the most horrifying of them all, artificial intelligence (AI).

Multiple scientists and innovators, including Elon Musk and Bill Gates, have been warning
humanity for the subsequent rise of artificial intelligence. “It might be the best thing or the worst thing
that might be happening to us. If we are not careful, it might be the last thing.”, Stephen Hawking said.
According to the Russel and Norvig study, Artificial intelligence refers to the capability of a machine to
exhibit cognitive knowledge to a certain benefit, or the study of “intelligent agents”. Humans are
disturbingly capable of developing autonomous technology without taking into serious account that these
autonomics can kill us all, on their own.

The envisioning of technology was not meant to spell the end of the human race. While we
humans are avoiding a matter of our own extinction by our own actions, it can be an indirect process to
have other things that we built to serve the final act for us. If we are not going to be cautious with all of our
steps, and just break through barriers without thinking of the consequences, our motivated minds will
rather motivate an event of total annihilation. Our history will go from having steam machines, atomic
bombs, the internet, to being slain by a superintelligent nature.

Julius Caesar was once ambitious, and it spelled the end for him.