The Fourth Industrial Revolution can compromise humanity's traditional sources of meaning - work, community, family, and identity - or it can lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousness based on a sense of shared destiny. The choice is ours.
Interpretation
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to reshape our values and identities, depending on the choices we make.
This quote highlights the dual nature of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as a transformative force that can either undermine essential aspects of human life such as work, community, family, and identity, or elevate our collective moral consciousness and foster a sense of shared purpose. It emphasizes the agency we have in determining the impact of this revolution on our lives and society.
In practice
In a speech about the impact of technology on society, one might say, 'As Klaus Schwab wisely noted, the Fourth Industrial Revolution can compromise our sources of meaning, but it is in our hands to direct it positively.'
We must address, individually and collectively, moral and ethical issues raised by cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, which will enable significant life extension, designer babies, and memory extraction.
Of all the many leaders I have met in the course of my life, none made a deeper impression on me than Nelson Mandela. His courage, compassion, humility and wisdom were without parallel on the world stage, and he himself was an enduring source of inspiration.
Corporate social responsibility is measured in terms of businesses improving conditions for their employees, shareholders, communities, and environment. But moral responsibility goes further, reflecting the need for corporations to address fundamental ethical issues such as inclusion, dignity, and equality.
Talent is a by-product of education; the quality of a country's human capital depends on it.
The world must become aware of the fantastic transformational power of social entrepreneurship and the Foundation will work as a catalyst in this effort.
As technology increasingly takes over knowledge-based work, the cognitive skills that are central to today's education systems will remain important; but behavioral and non-cognitive skills necessary for collaboration, innovation, and problem solving will become essential as well.
The rights of women are to the 21st century what civil rights were to the 20th.
For a short time we lived quietly. But this could not last. White men had found gold in the mountains around the land of winding water.
Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don't want to suffer. We don't want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we're living our lives in a very comfortable area. There's no growth in that.
I am trying to re-shape and improve my central position.
Outer changes always begin with an inner change of attitude.
I'm trying to tell you that there's a new wave on the continent. A new wave of openness and democratization in which, since 2000, more than two-thirds of African countries have had multi-party democratic elections. Not all of them have been perfect, or will be, but the trend is very clear.
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