A mere four years ago AI was not even able to pass a Grade eight science test. Seven hundred computer scientists competed in a contest with a significant amount of money as prize. They had to build artificial intelligence that could pass a Grade eight science test. The computer scientists did their best, but not even the most advanced AI system could score better than 60percent in the test. It seems that the AI was just not advanced enough to fully reach the language and logic skills expected of students in the eighth grade.

CAPE TOWN – One of the major drivers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) or the age of intelligentisation is the major advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) that are supporting and even taking over from humans in many situations. AI is increasingly replacing humans where knowledge could be learned or the decision-making formula is known. It is in particular the AI abilities of machine learning and deep learning that makes AI so powerful in numerous fields. Machine learning refers to the ability of computer systems to learn by itself and to adapt accordingly, allowing them to perform a specific task without explicit instructions. In the Business Report of last Friday I illustrated that AI even transforms the disciplines based on "human touch" such as social work and is used to predict successful youth influencers in an HIV campaign; match homeless people with the best-suited housing and most effective social interventions; and select vulnerable families and children in need of intervention.

A small number of innovative companies are taking these innovations a step further, and using them to develop new, higher-value business models. With recent advances in artificial intelligence, we are now able to envisage autonomous operations, where machines, and even entire facilities, can run themselves. On top of that, breakthroughs in biotechnology, nanotechnology and quantum computing are allowing us to manipulate the world on ever smaller scales, even at subatomic levels, and to introduce technologies into our bodies which may ultimately transform us. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, builds on previous revolutions, which began in the 18th century with the invention of the steam engine. The Second Industrial Revolution used electricity to create mass production, and the Third used electronics and information technology to automate production.