The Author is Mr. Udit Handa the CEO of Cynoteck Technology Solutions an IT service company based out of Dehradun. He can be reached udithanda@gmail.com 4IR '“ Rise of the Machines Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum defines the fourth industrial revolution as 'œA range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds'. The fourth industrial revolution is here, and we see disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, Robotics, Nanotechnology, Alternative Energy etc. changing the world. Before we dive any further let us understand where it all started. The First industrial revolution started in Britain during late 17th century with inventions such as steam engines, mechanized spinning and weaving. The world also saw rise of capitalism and colonialism to source raw material from countries like India. Poor countries became poorer and industrial economies became richer. The second industrial revolution started in late 18th century with invention such as electricity, steel, petroleum and telephone among others. The divide between the rich and the poor deepened further with social issues such as extreme poverty, low wages and inhuman working conditions on the rise. World Wars were a result of the second revolution and the lust for greed and power it brought among the nations. The third industrial revolution better known as the digital revolution started as early as 1950 with the invention of computers and semiconductors. It saw a shift from mechanical to digital systems which was further boosted by the arrival of internet and mobile phones. There was a major shift of power from Industrial economies to Knowledge-based economy and shift in power from capitalists to common man. While new problems like information overload, privacy and social isolation have emerged. The fourth industrial revolution that has just started knocking at our doors will create unprecedented changes to the world around us. Adaption and merger of technologies such as AI, Robotics, Nanotech and 3D printing will result in human race conquering new and unimaginable frontiers at an amazing pace. Consider we are expecting Covid-19 vaccine to be developed within a year of the first reported incident. Earlier vaccine researchers and scientists took an average of 10 years to develop any new vaccine. In future we could see virus vaccine being built and tested using AI as soon as a new virus is detected. Nanotechnology will bring self-repair technology to consumer good eliminating the need of service centers. Nanotechnology in healthcare will help doctors in operating patients with precision using non evasive measures. NASA and SpaceX who plan to use moon as their launch base for future missions are considering deploying large 3D printers on moon to build almost anything according to mission demands. Imagine the amount of fuel that would be saved sourcing all raw material from the moon. Connected intelligent homes and even cities that take intelligence decisions would be a norm of the future. There would be lesser and lesser dependency on the worker class. Drivers would be replaced by driverless cars, clerks, tele callers and proofreaders will be replaced by intelligent Ai driven programs and housemaids with robots. Almost every known industry today will be disrupted .With no need of the poor class to do their jobs the divide between the rich and the poor will be grave and permanent. A quarter of all jobs would be taken over by AI in USA by 2030 which is not very far. Only highly qualified scientists and engineers will retain their jobs besides some creative individuals. Some radical thinkers like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Bill Gates have proposed universal basic income as a solution to large scale unemployment. Where Ai will do all work and people would be paid a minimum wage for survival by the governments. People would spend their time in leisure, creativity and sports instead of doing repetitive work in factories. Karl Marx a stern critique of capitalism might finally have the last laugh.