But what exactly does it mean?

可它到底是什麼意思呢？

The term "Fourth Industrial Revolution" was coined by the founder of the World Economic Forum, a former professor named Klaus Schwab.

第四次工業革命這個字由世界經濟論壇創始人、之前當過教授的克勞斯·史瓦布所創。

Schwab wrote a book with that title to describe an era marked by a:

史瓦布寫了一本書，標題就是「第四次工業革命」，描述這樣一個時代：

"Technological revolution that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres."

「一場正在進行的科技革命，模糊了實體、數位、生物領域之間的界線。」

Let's break that down.

我們來分析一下。

Technologies like artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles or the Internet of Things are becoming ingrained in our day-to-day lives, and even our bodies.

AI、自動駕駛車、物聯網等科技都已變成我們日常生活的一部分，甚至應用到人體。

Think of voice-activated virtual assistants, face ID recognition or healthcare sensors.

像是聲控虛擬助手、臉部身分識別、健保感應。

Schwab first presented his vision of the Fourth Industrial Revolution at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting here in Davos in 2016.

2016 年達沃斯世界經濟論壇上，史瓦布首次提出這樣的遠見。

But to understand the idea, we need to go much further back in history to industrial revolution number one.

但為了弄懂這概念，我們得追溯到更遠的歷史，先看看第一次工業革命。

The First Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain around 1760 and spread to Europe and North America through the early 1800s.

第一次工業革命大約始於 1760 年的英國，19 世紀早期又擴散至歐洲與北美。

It was powered by a major invention: the steam engine.

工業革命的動力來自一項主要發明：蒸汽引擎。

The result?

結果如何？

New manufacturing processes, the creation of factories and a booming textiles industry.

嶄新的製程、工廠的誕生、興興向榮的紡織產業。

From the late 1800s, the Second Industrial Revolution was marked by mass production and new industries like steel, oil and electricity.

19 世紀晚期之後，大規模製造以及鋼鐵、石油、電力等新產業打造出第二次工業革命。

The light bulb, the telephone and internal combustion engine were a few of the major inventions of this era.

燈泡、電話、內燃機只是其中幾項這時代的主要發明。

The Third Industrial Revolution, sometimes known as the Digital Revolution, occurred in the second half of the twentieth century.

第三次工業革命，也就是數位革命發生在 20 世紀下半葉。

In just a few decades we saw the invention of the semiconductor, the personal computer and the internet.

短短數十年我們看見半導體、個人電腦、網際網路的發明。

So what separates the Fourth Industrial Revolution from the Third?

那麼第四次工業革命和第三次有什麼差異呢？

Experts say the main difference is that technology is merging more and more with humans' lives and that technological change is happening faster than ever.

專家表示科技與人類生活益加密不可分，且科技變遷進行得更快速。

Consider this: It took 75 years for 100 million users to adopt the telephone.

想想看，一億人口花了 75 年才把電話用得順手。

Instagram signed up 100 million users in just two years, while Pokemon Go caught that amount in one month.

Instagram 卻只花了兩年就有一億個用戶；而抓寶遊戲才花了一個月就達到相同數目。

3D printing is just one example of fast-paced technology in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

第四次工業革命浪潮下，科技日行千里，3D 列印只是其中一項實例。

The industry has gone from a business idea to big business, with 3D printer shipments expected to increase from just under 200,000 in 2015 to 2.4 million in 2020.

整個產業從商業發想邁向前景看好的事業，預計在 2020 年 3D 列印貨物會從 2015 年的 20 萬件增加至 240 萬件。

Today, you can have a hip replacement from a 3D-printed bone or use a 3D-printed bionic arm.

在今天我們可以用 3D 列印出來的骨頭進行髖部修復手術；也有 3D 列印仿生手臂。

Talk about blurring the line between humans and technology, right?

我們談的是人類與科技之結合，對吧？

This new era of technology is driving a lot of innovation.

這個科技新時代促進了許多創新發明。

You can see in this chart the number of patents related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, for things like 3D printing or AI, has been climbing up and up since early 2000.

你可以看到這張圖表裡，與第四次工業革命相關的專利，例如 3D 列印、AI，從 2000 年開始數量就不斷爬升。

Organizations are embracing new technologies to make their businesses more efficient, similar to how they embraced the steam engine during the First Industrial Revolution.

各個組織紛紛擁抱新科技來讓商業運作更有效率，就像當年第一次工業革命他們採用蒸汽引擎那樣。

But some companies, and governments, are struggling to keep up with the fast pace of technological change.

然而對於某些公司或政府，想追上科技的快速變遷並非易事。

Research shows innovators, investors and shareholders benefit the most from innovation.

研究顯示發明家、投資人、股東們從創新發明中獲益最多。

The risk is that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is making inequality, which is already a big issue, even worse.

風險在於，不平等問題原本就很嚴重，第四次工業革命卻讓它更惡化。

One study found billionaires have driven almost 80 percent of the 40 main breakthrough innovations over the last 40 years.

一項研究顯示在過去 40 年間、40 項突破性創新中，億萬富翁們就帶動了其中八成。

That's a problem when the richest one percent of households already own nearly half of the world's wealth.

當最富裕的百分之一家庭已經握有全球一半的財富，這個問題已不容忽視。

Experts warn we are in a "winner-takes-all" economy, where high-skilled workers are rewarded with high pay, and the rest of workers are left out.

專家警告我們的經濟規則是贏者全拿，這讓高技術人才薪資優渥，剩餘的工作者自求多福。

Studies confirm technologies like AI will eliminate some jobs and create demand for new skills that many workers don't have.

研究指出 AI 之類的科技將消滅某些工作，並創造出對於新技巧的需求，而這是許多工作者未具備的。

Privacy concerns are another issue as the Fourth Industrial Revolution turns every company into a tech company.

而當第四次工業革命促成趨向科技公司的轉型，隱私問題也是另一個問題。

Industries from food to retail to banking are going digital, and they're collecting a lot more data from their customers along the way.

許多產業像是食品、零售、銀行業都在邁向數位化，與此同時他們蒐集了大量顧客資料。

Users are starting to worry that companies know too much about their private digital lives.

使用者們開始擔心那些公司過於深入個人的數位活動。

The World Economic Forum says a majority of leaders don't have confidence their organizations are ready for the changes associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

面對第四次工業革命的衝擊，世界經濟論壇主張，多數領導者沒有信心自家組織已準備完全。

With tech changing fast every day, it's time to catch up.

當科技每天都快速變化，是時候追上它了。

Hey everyone, Elizabeth here in Davos, Switzerland.

大家好，我是 Elizabeth，我在瑞士達沃斯。

Be sure to check out our other CNBC Explains videos over here.

記得來這邊看看這個系列的其他幾部影片。

And leave us any other ideas in the comments section. See you later!

請在留言區留下你的任何想法。下次見！