We, at the least most of us, must have been through a plethora of Sci-Fi and futuristic movies. No, I don’t mean the post-apocalyptic film like “The Day After Tomorrow, 28 Days later,” or even the blockbuster “I Am Legend,” where the world gets transformed after a plague had killed most of humanity. Instead, I’m more hinting towards movies such as “The Matrix Trilogy,” the cute little Pixar’s “Wall-E,” and the cult “Blade Runner.”
Now, those who have watched either of the movies will have a much more relaxing time grasping what they are about to read than one’s who understandably continue to remain strangers to them. Either way, anyone can understand “Society 5.0” provided they continue reading the article until the end.
Society as We Dream and as We Know It
Imagine having complete accessibility to the latest medical advanced facilities at a low rate irrespective of where we live. Think about the possibility of visiting your family and friends at any time and no more stressing over “Who’s gonna drive on a long trip?” But above all, allowing us to challenge our infinite abilities and leading a more fulfilling life.
“Sounds like Circa 3000 AD, right.” I can tell some of you are even having a small laugh reading it. But irrespective of how diverse our society is – different people, several cultures, and many regions, we are the most advanced species on planet earth. It has enabled us to overcome it even since before the days of Jesus Christ. Also, if we take a more fundamental look at the world around us today, we will understand that perhaps we will get there much before it is 3000, courtesy of the implementation of Society 5.0.
Now that you have been across the word or a term – Society 5.0, it’s finally time to share glimpses of it.
The Inception of Society 5.0
With the world still coping with recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, it will inevitably undergo enormous changes soon. Digital transformation is likely to play a crucial part in enabling us to deal with the currently affected society through changes in the public administration, industrial structure, people’s employment, and private lives.
There is an endless direction in which developing advanced technologies can lead us towards a world with inclusion. It, possibly, could be a much greener pasture with significant improvements in our ways of living. However, we cannot ignore the alternative where these technologies can negatively impact our existing lives. While positives can be the more convenient higher living standards, the negatives could affect the growing disparity, the massively uneven distribution of wealth, information control, and employment.
Thus, to ensure the kind of society we wish to live in in the future, we must work towards creating one such society rather than wait for it. And the society that we wish to make can be what was registered by Japan in January 2016 as Society 5.0.
What is Society 5.0?
Society 5.0 is a conceptualized initiative taken by Japan to guide the world into the next ideal society. Here we can expect to have a more liberating experience than the current stressful and unhappy livelihood. In Society 5.0, we will meet our needs and requirements will be completed comfortably at a low cost instead of the cost of living we have to deal with today. However, currently, it is more of an imaginative society where we will have to analyze the various challenges and possible scenarios to solve them with digital transformative technologies. It will focus on overcoming the constraints of Society 4.0 that emphasized heavily upon efficiencies.
The concept of Society 5.0 is to obtain freedom for the people where you can pursue a more diverse lifestyle and values. Also, it will be more focused upon “Value Creation” and “Problem Solving” while enabling a more satisfying experience for any individual. People no longer will have to live under suppressive influences and lead a more liberating life where they can learn and work irrespective of their color, caste, creed, and even their ways of thinking.
However, a doubt may arise in all, i.e., even if we can achieve this theoretically, how can we get there? Well, there is an answer for it – Industry 4.0.
Industry 4.0
Apart from Society 5.0, Industry 4.0 is one of the buzziest words that has been doing rounds for a while. Industry 4.0, essentially, refers to the 4th Industrial Revolution that has commenced already. Here we have seen transformative technologies that have changed industries for the better. Currently, we can see intelligent factories that run with well-connected machines with the applications of AI and the use of robots for shaping the future of everything.
Industrial Revolutions
The industrial revolution first started in the 1770s when we moved from manual work to mechanical work, from farms to factories with steam power. Hundred years later, the invention of electricity kick-started Industry 2.0, where we first started assembly lines and mass production. Moving forward to the late 1970s, we witnessed the 3rd industrial revolution or Industry 3.0 when computers were introduced to us that allowed automation in the industries with the help of electronic devices. And finally, the 4th industrial revolution took place when the whole computerized machine started communicating with each other through a well-connected network.
We can even refer to Industry 4.0 with the Internet of things, where machines can self-diagnose or tell us that it needs a fix or an update. Here, artificial intelligence plays an essential role as it allows us to keep track of work from a distance and prepare for any inconveniences such as a delay of order by tracking the given consignment number.
Impact of Society 5.0
Since you have read about the what’s and how’s of Society 5.0, it is time that we have a look at the possible impactful changes it can bring.
More Sustainable and Secure Ways of Living
One of the benefits Society 5.0 can add to our lives is creating a society where people, irrespective of their origins, can live together in harmony and peace with nature. And we all know that with the alarming climate risk, people are already opting for and encouraging sustainability and conservation ways of living.
Also, one of the stressful and worrying factors of society 4.0 that we live in is security and safety. Today, we constantly live in the fears of terrorism activities, natural disasters, unemployment, poverty, and even cyber threats. Through Society 5.0, we can harbor around ways to liberate ourselves from the anxieties caused by security and safety concerns. It can aim towards creating more secure and safe nets for people to live their lives more comfortably working around it.
A Complete Healthcare Overhaul
If the world was resting peacefully over its broken healthcare systems, the Coronavirus pandemic provided a much-needed wake-up call. Our healthcare systems across the globe have got well exposed as to how broken it is. During the Covid-19, millions lost their lives due to the lack of oxygen. Simultaneously, many were left to deal with an outrageous amount as the medical bill. As a result, people have started demanding their Government to build a more competitive healthcare structure, so the world never has to live through another disastrous phase.
Society 5.0 can correct the lost course with its idealistic and optimistic model to create a higher standard of living for all at a low cost of maintenance. It will collect all the available data to analyze the medical state of individuals worldwide and the countries that lack the resources for a healthy healthcare system. Also, society will be more invested in working with the local government to ensure all necessary measures are taken care of effectively.
Conclusion
Society 5.0 will be the dawn of a new era where we can live more resiliently than in fear created by vulnerability. It will help us take on a more diverse nature of living than a concentrated one. But above all, Society 5.0 can be the ultimate society that humankind can achieve with the help of each other and advanced digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and intelligent robots.
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