The Intelligent Age: A time for cooperation

Almost a decade ago, in 2016, I coined the term the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I could see a world where the fusion of our physical, digital and biological realities would transform industries and societies. This revolution, I knew, had the potential to fundamentally change all aspects of our lives.

But now, as we witness the exponential acceleration of technological change, it’s clear we are no longer just in the throes of an industrial shift. We are entering the Intelligent Age, an era far beyond technology alone. This is a societal revolution, one that has the power to elevate humanity — or indeed to fracture it.

The Intelligent Age — driven by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing and blockchain — is transforming everything and changing it right now, in real time.

These converging technologies are reshaping the very fabric of our world, demanding swift adaptation and global cooperation.

For this transformation to develop rather than divide society, it must go well beyond technological advances to actually enhance human potential. It is imperative that we develop environmental, social and geopolitical intelligence alongside technological intelligence.

AI and automation are already disrupting entire industries. In healthcare, AI-driven systems are outperforming humans for the benefit of patients. In diagnostics, AI is helping doctors reach more accurate decisions, ploughing through vast datasets to discover new drugs and developing personalized treatment plans based on genetic information.

In agriculture, farmers are leveraging AI to optimize crop yields, while manufacturers are using intelligent systems to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce waste. Even finance, one of the most conservative industries, is being upended by AI-driven algorithms that predict market movements with increasing accuracy and speed.

But there are also potential downsides and risks. Automation is set to displace millions of workers, and while it will create new opportunities, we need to ensure that we have the policies, education systems and social safety nets in place to help people transition to new roles. The economic benefits of these transformations must be widely shared if we are to avoid deepening inequalities that threaten social cohesion.

The Intelligent Age is also transforming how we live. Cities are becoming smarter, with sensors and AI managing everything from traffic flow to energy usage. These smart cities, and the smart homes within them, are not just more efficient, they are designed to be more sustainable, reducing carbon emissions and improving quality of life.

With the rise of the metaverse and virtual worlds, the line between the digital and physical is becoming increasingly blurred. Virtual spaces are emerging where people can work, socialize and even own digital assets — ushering in new forms of economic and social interaction. This shift towards a more blended reality may profoundly impact how we define personal space, property and community.

Yet the vast energy demands of these new technologies, especially in areas like cryptocurrency mining and AI computing, should give us pause. It must be balanced with the creation of renewable energy solutions. Environmental intelligence is about ensuring that the Intelligent Age does not exacerbate climate change or deplete our natural resources but rather helps us mitigate environmental risks to build more sustainable economies.

The Intelligent Age is fundamentally altering how we communicate — both with one another and with the world around us. AI is taking instantaneous and global communication to the next level, enabling real-time translation across languages, automatic content generation and hyper-personalized messaging that caters to individual preferences and behaviours. AI-driven platforms are already beginning to mediate much of our communication, whether through social media algorithms that decide what content we see or virtual assistants who manage our schedules and interactions. As these systems become more sophisticated, they will increasingly shape the flow of information in society, raising important questions about bias and misinformation.

As we delegate more decision-making to algorithms, we risk exacerbating social divides if the systems are designed without fairness, inclusion, and an understanding of what it means to be human at their core. Social intelligence means understanding the broader societal impacts of technology and ensuring that the Intelligent Age fosters greater inclusion and equity, not further division and polarization.

With the advent of the Intelligent Age, we are confronted both with unprecedented opportunities and unprecedented risks. To navigate this new era responsibly, we need coordinated global efforts across all sectors of society. Policymakers must work quickly to establish regulations that ensure AI, quantum computing and blockchain are used ethically and for the benefit of all. Education systems must evolve to prepare future generations for a world of work where many traditional jobs no longer exist and new roles are emerging that require entirely different skill sets. Businesses must rethink their models, ensuring that they adapt to the dynamism of the Intelligent Age while fostering an environment that does not leave workers and entire sections of society behind.

To do this well, we need geopolitical intelligence to navigate the shifting landscapes of global power. AI in space exploration is already creating new security challenges and potential conflicts. Geopolitical intelligence means understanding how technology intersects with global power dynamics and fostering collaboration rather than competition.

This is why, at the World Economic Forum's next Annual Meeting in Davos, we have chosen the theme "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age".

Global cooperation is essential if we are to steer this revolution toward a positive outcome. We must create international frameworks for the governance of AI and emerging technologies, promote the responsible use of data, and ensure that all nations — regardless of their level of development — have a voice in shaping the future.

We have already crossed the threshold into the Intelligent Age. It is up to us to determine whether it will lead to a future of greater equality, sustainability and collaboration — or if it will deepen divides that already exist. The window of opportunity is narrow, but with collective action and responsible leadership, we can seize the potential of this new era and build a world that benefits all of humanity.