Artificial Intelligence Bringing South Winds to Industry 4.0 AI is the most discussed technology talked across sectors and has shaped up to be the spine of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The idea of Industry 4.0, which is also referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution has emerged from the concept of digitization of the Manufacturing industry. The growing number of technologies in the country and their wide-ranging implementation convinces people more about the much speculated Fourth Industrial Revolution coming into reality. Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data are the technologies that are posing to be the ones that will play a significant role in the Industry 4.0.

Digitization and automation have chances of seeing growth with smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning. It also involves cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, cognitive computing, and several others. all these will boost productivity in the industry.

Holding all these potential, it also implanted seeds of suspicion in the minds of professionals and entrepreneurs regarding the adverse impact it will have on the jobs pertaining to the disruptive natures of AI and Robotic Process Automation (RPA). But the initiation of Industry 4.0 in hands with the technologies, also offers a positive outlook to the jobs market. There stands a huge slice of possibility that it will assist professionals in their jobs in easing decision making and boosting the exchange of ideas and create promising job opportunities instead of wiping them out entirely.

Not a "Buzzword' Anymore

AI is being the most vouched technology in Industry 4.0 and is often referred to as the brain of this industrial revolution. A buzzword for a few, the technology has spread its roots in every possible direction. For Anku Jain, the MD from MediaTek, AI is a lot more than a mere buzzword. He believes, "AI is no more a buzzword. It is happening everywhere. The technology has and is catering to a lot of businesses ideas to startups. One of the major aspects of AI is how it helps to make decisions. The technology can be implemented wherever data is available.

Implementing AI, converting data into useful information has become easy. Industry 4.0 will see a lot of implementation of AI."

A Fusion of Technologies

The fourth manufacturing revolution has the potential to create a macroeconomic shift and boost employment, productivity and growth. And here the Internet of Things (IoT) is another technology that has also hit the level of expectations. It will supposedly build manufacturing systems that are not only interconnected but communicate, access and use the information to drive further intelligent action back in the physical world.

Vishwas Mugagal, CEO, Good work Labs, who believes that these technologies will be transforming businesses for the next century, mentions, "We are banking on Industry 4.0. It is a big impetus to bring AI, Big Data, Machine Learning, IoT and Robotics together and will create a fusion of all these technologies, which are very different at this time. But they will all converge in the future and Industry 4.0 will be a platform on which this will happen. This is where everything is heading right now. This is going to be the next revolution."

Eagle10 Ventures, a platform that helps startups generate seed funding and helps angel investors co-invest in startups raised its hands in support of AI. Picking the sectors that look promising for 2019, its co-founder Prashant Pansare vouches, "For 2019, the Sectors that need to watch out for are Fintech, SaaS, Healthcare, AI / Data Analytics. They have a long way to go."