Visitors look at a hydrogen-fueled multicopter at the Doosan Mobility Innovation booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 5, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Public awareness of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has risen in the COVID-19 pandemic era, a poll showed Thursday.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution refers to a highly connected economy supported by advances in such areas as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), big data and Internet of Things.
The presidential committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution conducted a survey of 2,000 South Koreans over 19 years of age, 89.1 percent of whom responded they were aware of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Roughly three-quarters said they were physically experiencing the impact of the newest industrial revolution.
The survey results showed that public awareness of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has risen significantly since 2019.
The word ‘metaverse’ came up as a major keyword, followed by the terms ‘platform’, ‘healthcare’ and ‘economy’.
In the previous year, the keywords were ‘artificial intelligence’, ‘data’ and ‘robots’.
Asked about the impact and future prospects brought on by digitalization, respondents gave rather hopeful prospects about state competitiveness, enhanced productivity, improved education and social welfare, a better quality of life and economic prosperity.
There were also concerns, however, about disputes between state actors, infringement of privacy and jobs.
According to the survey, the hospital/medicine/healthcare sector most closely felt the impacts and the needs of digitalization.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
