Industry 4.0: Ethical and Moral Predicaments

The advancements in software technology and data science are enabling Industry 4.0, aka the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). While the first three industrial revolutions have brought about immense change, the impact of Industry 4.0 will be much wider and far greater, especially with regard to the easily overlooked ethical and moral aspects. Widening wealth gaps between countries and among classes of people within countries, a potential growing unemployment rate, data privacy and accessibility issues, and the treatment of intelligent agents (e.g., military robots) present new and complex ethical and moral dilemmas. In this article, we discuss Industry 4.0 ethical and moral predicaments from the perspective of different business and technical forces. We present ethical and moral issues related to data privacy, data ownership, system accessibility, cybersecurity, the future of work, and the future of humanity. Our aim is to present various challenges and discuss ethical and moral considerations from different perspectives. We hope this discussion will give business executives and technical designers/developers a better understanding and appreciation of the ethical and moral challenges Industry 4.0 presents.