Buddhism and the fourth industrial revolution

Book excerpt: EDITORS’ INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND Currently, we are living in the fourth industrial revolution by which computers, automation, robots and people will work together in entirely new ways. Applying technological innovations will help the production process faster, less manpower and more fully collected data. Product quality is ensured by controlling raw materials to forming and transferring to consumers. However, it may have raised many issues for humans. One of its drawbacks is many workers will lose their jobs due to replacement machinery, while businesses may face difficulties in recruiting human resources to meet the requirements of the job. This can lead to inequality, even to break the labor market. Economic uncertainties will lead to instability in life and even politics. In addition, new technology will cause changes in power, security concerns, and a big gap between rich and poor or the way of communication through the Internet which challenges information security for both people and political systems. These problems have urged the world to find the right solutions urgently to attain sustainable development which is favor of the Buddhist philosophy. In this theme, we highly focus on the Buddhist approach and response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution to generate happiness and peace for humankind.