Implications of the Fourth Industrial Age on Higher Education

TL;DR

This paper discusses how the fourth industrial revolution, driven by AI, will transform higher education by fostering interdisciplinary approaches and altering university missions in teaching, research, and service.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of the implications of Industry 4.0 on higher education's core functions and emphasizes the need for interdisciplinary integration.

Findings

Increased importance of interdisciplinary teaching and research.

Transformation of university missions towards human-centered education.

Convergence of humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields.

Abstract

Higher education in the fourth industrial revolution, HE 4.0, is a complex, dialectical and exciting opportunity which can potentially transform society for the better. The fourth industrial revolution is powered by artificial intelligence and it will transform the workplace from tasks based characteristics to the human centred characteristics. Because of the convergence of man and machine, it will reduce the subject distance between humanities and social science as well as science and technology. This will necessarily require much more interdisciplinary teaching, research and innovation. This paper explores the impact of HE 4.0 on the mission of a university which is teaching, research (including innovation) and service.