This document discusses the potential impacts and opportunities of Technology 4.0. It describes 6 major technologies - industrial internet of things, additive manufacturing, data processing, artificial intelligence, virtual/augmented reality, and collaborative robotics. It argues that Technology 4.0 will transform production, reproduction, bioeconomy, wealth creation, and human self-understanding. Specifically, it may shift humans from toolmakers to "God makers" and require rethinking concepts like property, identity, and quality of life. While changes may be accelerated and challenging, the document also argues that embracing Technology 4.0 could enhance learning, homogenize cultures to improve logistics, and create a more just allocation of resources.

1. Technology 4.0
as source of growth
Dr. Tabea Hirzel (DDipl)

2. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 2
5th
Human
self-understanding
From toolmaker to God maker
21st
Century’s Industrial Revolution

3. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 3
5 Steps in Detail
1.Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
2.Additive manufacturing
3.Data processing and knowledge
production
4.Artificial Intelligence (AI)
5.Collaborative robotics (Cobot)
6.Virtual Reality (VR) and
Augmented Reality (AR)
6 Mayor technologies of T4.0
1.Production
2.Re-production
3.Bioeconomy
4.Welth creation
5.Human self-
understanding

4. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 4
How technology transforms the human
Fish-bone diagram: Five mayor steps of transformation

5. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 5
1. Platform enabled ecosystems
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Impact based
wealth indicators
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
No product-
service
dichotomy
Collaborative
Production

6. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 6
Cyber physical systems
●
Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
➔ Internet of everything (IoE)
●
Cyber physical systems (CPS)
➔ Deeply embedded systems (DES)
●
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN)
➔ Smart connected planet (SCP)
●
Smart technology (AI/ Robots)
●
Smart tools (wearables,
kitchen facility, home security)
●
Smart city (energy,
transportation, etc.)
●
Smart human (Cyborg)
Enhanced systems Daily interaction
Lead to: Dilution between industrial processes and everyday life.
Rethink basic human needs

7. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 7
T 4.0 Production
●
SCM Linear supply chain
●
Output based revenue
(unit quantity, quality)
●
Economy of scale
●
Growth based wealth in
GDP
●
Division of labour
●
DSN Digital supply network/ platform
enabled ecosystem (circular supply
chain)
●
Value based revenue (hours of use,
feed-back loops)
●
Merging services & product (SaaS,
Product-as-a-Service)
●
Alternative Wealth Indicators
(Impact/ outcome based)
●
Collaborative networks
Result in a shift from: To:

8. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 8
2. Mutually complementary organisation
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
organisation
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics
Collaborative
Production
Learning
communities

9. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 9
Data processing and knowledge
production
Information control Narrative production
●
Big data
– Hughe asset of information tokens
– Bases for probabilistic statistical computation (agent base modelling and
simulation)
●
Knowledge Discovery in Databases KDD
– Advanced handlers of data processing
– Automatic summarization of data
– Extracting essence of information stored
– Discovering patterns in raw data
●
Automated insight
– Discover relations between events
– Probability analysis and triggering
– Simulation
– Prediction
●
Decentralization of knowledge and
property
●
Control over complexity through the
manipulation of meaning
●
Strategical improvement
●
Tactical improvement
●
Managerial improvement
●
Global inclusion
Lead to: A world controlled by technology requires a broad technological practice.
Rethink personal identity

10. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 10
T 4.0 Re-production
●
Companies as hierarchical
structures of power
relations
●
Families as bloodlines
sociopolitical mini
organizations
●
Consumption as needs’
satisfaction
●
Enterprises as organic
innovation networks
●
New family models
(broader, decentralized,
less based on genes)
●
Consumption as shared
practice
Result in a shift from: To:

11. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 11
3. Decentralized consensus
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
organisation
Decentralized
consensus
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Codes of conduct
as regulators
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics Blockchain
Relink Rights-
Responsibilities
Traceability of
externalities &
causalities
Finances as
networks of trust
Peer-to-peer
historical
records of
interaction
Emission trading
Collaborative
Production
Learning
communities
Economy of life

12. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 12
Additive manufacturing
●
Additive Manufacturing Processes
●
Additive Manufacturing Materials
●
Fused Deposition Modelling (CAD/STL)
– Functional prototypes
– Aeronautical components
– Automotive applications
– Medical applications
●
3D printing/ Stereolithography (SLA)
●
Dematerialization of
production processes
●
Improved resource allocation
(human and material)
●
Circular economy
●
Open source economy
Decentralized production Creative empowerment
Lead to: Reorientation from mass production to production by the masses.
Rethink property

13. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 13
T 4.0 Bioeconomy
●
Survival of the fittest
●
Competition as selection
●
Decentralizing rights and
responsibilities
●
Centralizing control
(Economy of war)
●
Emission trade
●
Co-creative existence
●
Encounter as resource
●
Unity of rights and responsibilities
●
Modular, adaptive, replicative
systems
●
Economy of life (Bioeconomy)
●
Democratic empowerment through
collaborative historiography
Result in a shift from: To:

14. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 14
4. Unity creation from paradox
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
organisation
Decentralized
consensus
Unity creation
from paradox
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Codes of conduct
as regulators
Politics of a
common vision
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics Blockchain
Relink Rights-
Responsibilities
Resilience
Traceability of
externalities &
causalities
Finances as
networks of trust
Virtualization
Encountering
Otherness
Peer-to-peer
historical
records of
interaction
Emission trading Historiography as
democratic
empowerment
Challenge for our
common
humanity
Translating
between mind
and logic
Collaborative
Production
Learning
communities
Economy of life
Narrative
of worth

15. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 15
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
●
Imitates information processing of the human brain
●
Extract value from data
●
Machine learning automates analytical model building/ generates
knowledge
– Data preparation capabilities
– (Self-adaptive) algorithms
– Automation and iterative processes
– Scalability
– Ensemble modelling
●
Deep learning
– hierarchical level of artificial neural networks
– Non-linear approach
– Based on labelling and signalling
●
AI does not replicate the mind
●
The mind is a wholistic phenomenon with a
transcendent and a material qualia
●
Adheres meaning to data
●
Human learning constitutes identity/ generates
meaning
●
Emerges from encounter with conflict and
paradox
●
Breaks algorithms off (the motor of life is the error
in the code)
Enhanced computation Logical conflict solver
Lead to: AI makes the paradox of meaning visible and increases awareness.
Rethink human role

16. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 16
T 4.0 Wealth creation
●
Control of resources
as competitive
advantage
●
Wealth as domination
●
Competing towards
universal values
●
Wealth as A common
future
●
Narrativity as
competitive advantage
(control of mind)
●
Universal personhood
beyond plurality
Result in a shift from: To:

17. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 17
5. New human self-understanding
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
organisation
Decentralized
consensus
Unity creation
from paradox
Alternative reality
superposed
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Codes of conduct
as regulators
Politics of a
common vision
Human
particularity
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics Blockchain
Relink Rights-
Responsibilities
Resilience
Traceability of
externalities &
causalities
Finances as
networks of trust
The robot
as the Other
Home beyond
planet Earth
GeneticsVirtualization
Encountering
Otherness
Peer-to-peer
historical
records of
interaction
Emission trading Historiography as
democratic
empowerment
Challenge for our
common
humanity
Translating
between mind
and logic
Collaborative
Production
Learning
communities
Economy of life
Narrative
of worth
Human as
God maker
Personhood
beyond human
species
Self-directed
evolution

18. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 18
Virtual / Augmented Reality
(VR/AR)
●
Optimizing designs
●
Automation of processes
●
Control of manufacturing and
construction
●
Workers training
●
Maintenance and monitoring
activities
●
Improve contextual learning
●
Make use of human imagination
and the brain’s mirror cells
●
Improves non verbal
communication
●
Role play (shape shifting)
Within industrial environments Work as learning community
Lead to: Change from fabric manufacturing towards playful co-production.
Rethink lifeworld

19. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 19
Collaborative robotics (Cobot)
●
Less specific than conventional
robots
●
Organize and communicate in
order to fulfil tasks
●
Potential of human-robot
cooperation
●
Risks for human safety
●
Industrial processes: manufacturing ,
warehousing, logistics and healthcare,
mining
●
Fire fighting
●
De-mining/ bomb disposal
●
Robot soldiers/ Future Combat
Systems (FCS)
●
Emergency relieve/ Rescue operations
Social role of tools Human workforce substitute
Lead to: Cobots transforming the role and meaning of human interaction.
Rethink quality of life

20. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 20
T 4.0 New model of human
●
Human as sole
person
●
Humanity as supreme
creation
●
Human as tool maker
●
Human as (a) person
●
Humanity as unique/
particular
●
Paradox solving capacity
(transcendence,
transgression, shapeshifter)
●
Human as “God maker”
Result in a shift from: To:

21. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 21
Impact of T 4.0
Close feedback loops by making behavioural effects
visible in real-time
Reduces rebound effect Goncol House
Create ethical awareness by active confrontation with
realism inconsistency
Challenges existential vs.
relational constructs of
personhood
Emergence of new perception
of rights (human rights, wildlife,
forest acts, etc.)
Accelerated spatial integration by decentralization production
processes from expert location
Applies the logic of remote
communication to processes of
survey, control, and production
Remote surgery, diagnosis,
facility maintenance
New materials and new by new approaches to design Unlocks potential of local,
ecosystem based, production
networks (vs. traditional
material flow)
Circular economy
Reconnects responsibilities
with rights
by redefining property From control of resources over
ability of reproducing action
Blockchain
De-technologizing warfare by creative capacity as key
competitive advantage
From clash of power towards
narrative challenges
DAESH, China

22. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 22
How technology transforms humans
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
organisation
Decentralized
consensus
Unity creation
from paradox
Alternative reality
superposed
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Codes of conduct
as regulators
Politics of a
common vision
Human
particularity
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics Blockchain
Relink Rights-
Responsibilities
Resilience
Traceability of
externalities &
causalities
Finances as
networks of trust
The robot
as the Other
Home beyond
planet Earth
GeneticsVirtualization
Encountering
Otherness
Peer-to-peer
historical
records of
interaction
Emission trading Historiography as
democratic
empowerment
Challenge for our
common
humanity
Translating
between mind
and logic
Collaborative
Production
Learning
communities
Economy of life
Narrative
of worth
Human as
God maker
Personhood
beyond human
species
Self-directed
evolution

23. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 23
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Integration of:
Supply
Manufacturing
Innovation
Services
Saas/ PaaS
UN-SDG
Mutually complementary
demand organisation
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Unity creation
from paradox
Platform enabled
ecosystems
Impact based
wealth indicators
Feed-back loops
base on shared
practice
Codes of conduct
as regulators
Impact based
wealth indicators
Human
particularity
Digital
platforms
Wealth
based
economy
Company as
Learning
community
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
Consumption
as practice
New
materials &
design
approach
No product-
service
dichotomy
Bionics Blockchain
Relink Rights-
Responsibilities
Resilience
Traceability of
externalities &
causalities
Extended family
(‘ohana)
Consumer-
producer
community
The robot as
the Other
Home beyond
planet Earth
GeneticsVirtualization
Encountering
Otherness
From a static-mechanical lifeworld

24. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 24
Towards a living ecosystem thinking

25. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 25
Outlook of T4.0
1. Issues & Opportunities
2. Risks
3. Positive Impact

26. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 26
Mayor issues/ opportunities
●
Interaction/ (Re-)Integration into
the global/universal ecosystem
– Process efficiency
– Rebound effect
– Role of property in social
organization
– Quality of life ( smart, just,
sustainable resource
allocation)
●
Redefinition of human identity
– AI-human interaction
– Loss of hegemonic power
– Accelerated global integration
through digitalization
– Break-off physiological-ideal
spaces
– Plurality issues

27. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 27
Why we should be afraid T 4.0
●
Accelerated exponential transformation of
(re-)production processes
●
Changes human self-understanding
●
Challenges concepts of human intelligence and
the value of persons
●
Demands pragmatical political decisions

28. © 2019 Tabea Hirzel 28
Why we should embrace T 4.0
●
Industrial production in everyday life enhances
opportunities for learning and improvement (KAIZEN).
●
Broader access and practice homogenizes cultures
geographically which improves logistic networks (LEAN
Thinking).
●
Playful interaction with alternative realities makes
paradoxes visible and triggers meaning creation (Society
building).