The exponential rate of development in new technologies will revolutionize almost every industry worldwide within the coming decades. Rapid breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, the internet of things, nanotechnology and, biotechnology promise to dissolve the distinction between our physical and digital worlds forever. At the Summit, Uber founder Travis Kalanik predicted that within 5-10 years most taxis will be automated and, rather than calling a driver, we’ll communicate with cars through sophisticated AI. These changes will likely lead to such an abundance of cheap and easy transport that most of us are unlikely to own our own cars. But what becomes of the people who currently drive cabs, trucks, buses and trains? A 2015 study predicted that one in four US jobs will be automated within 10 years, and that the jobs of many administrative and clerical workers are no safer than those of manual workers. In the UK, the Bank of England estimates that roughly 15 million jobs could be at risk. Meanwhile, the political order across the western world is already convulsing as those who feel left behind by the unassailable logic of global markets seek ways to comprehend their predicament and make their voices heard. Many speakers at the summit articulated variations on the following three proposals to address these emerging tensions: 1.) We urgently need “new, human-centered thinking—considering happiness, wellbeing, purpose and meaning” in policy-making, according to Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum. Professor Jeffrey Sachs suggested that economics should become a moral science, whilst speakers including Elon Musk discussed the inevitability of needing a new economic model or social contract, including perhaps a ‘universal basic income.’ As new ways of organizing society are assessed, we must do so through a ‘human-centered’ lens rather than blindly serving existing systems. 2.) We need to develop 21st century job skills that cannot be replaced by robots and AI, which means exploring and cultivating what makes us uniquely human. President of the World Bank, Dr. Jim Kim, proposed that we must cultivate STEMpathy (science, technology, engineering, maths + empathy), because increasingly, what we know matters less than how we apply it. Joseph Aoun, President of Northeastern University, predicted that we are entering the ‘age of humanics,’ rather than an age of robotics, which he defined as “an age that integrates our human and technological capacities to meet the global challenge of our time.” 3.) The ultimate aim of governments should be cultivating the optimum conditions for human happiness, according to world leaders like the Prime Ministers of Bhutan and the United Arab Emirates. The new science of positive psychology and wellbeing presented at the summit by Professor Martin Seligman and others shows that there are ways in which we can all learn to be happier, and the degree to which we are happy has a major impact on our productivity and employability—learning how to live isn’t necessarily different from learning how to earn a living. Dr Kim argued that investing in the psychological health of future generations is not just the right thing to do, but is also important for social stability. If the Fourth Industrial Revolution leads to inescapable mass-unemployment the focus of schools on preparing young people for the job market may be thrown into question, but in any case, children should be taught how to live well.

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