"Fourth Industrial Revolution", "4IR", or "Industry 4.0",^[1] is a neologism describing rapid technological advancement in the 21st century.^[2] It follows the Third Industrial Revolution (the "Information Age"). The term was popularised in 2016 by Klaus Schwab, the World Economic Forum founder and executive chairman,^{[3][4][5][6][7]} who asserts that these developments represent a significant shift in industrial capitalism.^[8]

A part of this phase of industrial change is the joining of technologies like artificial intelligence, gene editing, to advanced robotics that blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds.^[8][9]