The Information Revolution: From Agriculture to AI

Characteristics of Revolution

To determine whether we are in a revolution at present requires an understanding of what a revolution actually is. The most recent bases for comparison are the Industrial Revolution and the Agricultural Revolution, though arguably a Transportation Revolution also occurred that was more transformative than either. The underlying principle of a societal revolution is that after a period of technological stagnation, a period arises characterized by a rapid succession of advancements. Cumulatively, these advancements transform the entire way that a base task is performed, which in turn leads to transformations in many other elements of society. Within that context, it appears that we are in the midst of another revolution, and on the other side of it the way of life for humanity will be significantly different than it is now. This revolution could be called the Information Revolution, and we are just at the beginning of it.

Prior Revolutions

The first modern revolution is generally considered to be the Agricultural Revolution. For centuries prior to this, agriculture changed little. Advancements were few and far between, and they were generally incremental in nature. During the pre-revolutionary period, the structure of human society changed little, and most people were engaged in agricultural production. A series of innovations during the 18th and 19th centuries — seed drills, harvesters, plows — resulted in dramatic improvements in agricultural yield (Bellis, 2015). As a consequence of these advancements, fewer people were needed to produce the same amount of food. This allowed more people to move out of the countryside and live in cities. The changing pattern of living thus allowed for an economic shift, and more labor was deployed in other trades. One of the most significant of these was exploration, as this period coincided with an intensification of colonial activity. Moreover, increased agricultural efficiency allowed North America, South America, Africa, and Australia to be colonized more fully by small, family-based homesteaders.

The Industrial Revolution soon followed. The migration of people from the countryside into towns provided labor for increased specialization and, furthermore, a market for consumer goods. Advances in industrial production became rapid during the 19th century, in part due to the innovation of engines that performed substantial amounts of labor on a scale that was difficult to achieve with human labor alone. This revolution increased overall productivity. A greater variety of consumer goods could be produced at a lower cost, raising the standard of living for many people and enabling greater labor specialization. Eventually, the Industrial Revolution would lead to social changes as the urban working class fought for increased rights, reshaping the political landscape of more developed countries. World War One was an outcome of this political restructuring process, which essentially began with the French Revolution and ended with the Russian Revolution. Industrial practices had also reshaped warfare by WWI, leading to entirely different geopolitical dynamics, and clearly delineated nation-states emerged to reflect the growing power of factory owners, the ambitions of a burgeoning middle class, and the weakening of authoritarian leaders across the developed world.

The Transportation and Medical Revolutions

Industrial practices eventually led to both a transportation revolution and a medical one. The latter may be understood as an outcome of increased labor specialization and greater access to education for the working class. The medical revolution wiped out many of the dread diseases that plagued humanity and increased life expectancies, bringing about further social changes in most societies. The transportation revolution was perhaps even more profound. The development of the automobile was derived from the Industrial Revolution but represented a substantial change in its own right. For centuries, transportation had not evolved significantly until the train arrived — yet even then, this was not personal transportation. The automobile gave individuals a degree of personal freedom never before experienced. Increasingly urban societies spread outward; cities have been growing rapidly ever since the car was invented, and modern life has been designed around this mode of transport. So much of our world — from the structure of our neighborhoods to our global supply chains — is rooted in the internal combustion engine. So, too, is climate change, a high cost of this particular revolution (Mead & Clairmont, 2015). Some argue that the transportation revolution is ongoing and is about to enter its next phase, into a post-fossil-fuel world.