Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to the consideration of the Cybernetic Revolution that is the last of the greatest technological revolutions in all history following the Agrarian and Industrial ones. It is a major transition from the industrial production to the production and service sector based on the implementation of self-regulating systems. The first phase of this revolution started in the 1950 and 1960s. Between the 2030 and 2070s, the final phase of this revolution will lead to a new level of self-operating control, namely the level of self-regulating/managing systems. They are systems that, by means of the embedded programs and a number of intelligent components, can regulate themselves to operate independently with no human intervention. These systems will become the major part of technological process during the forthcoming phase of the Cybernetic Revolution named the epoch of self-regulating/managing systems. But these systems are not only technical devices but a wider range of systems and control processes of a biological, physiological, techno-biological, social and other nature, with a high level of self-regulation, which are and will be implemented in various areas (including medicine, genetic engineering, robotics, social relations). Special sections discuss the differences between self-regulating systems and artificial intelligence.
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Notes
- 1.
We borrowed the term from computer science, from its theory of control. The idea is the same as we point out for all systems—to reduce operating costs by increasing automation, ideally to by allowing systems to be self-managing without any human intervention (Diao et al., 2005).
- 2.
- 3.
Here is the short essence of a detailed explanation of this system. A medical-biotechnological environment will be a system for health monitoring, control and possible help, when treatment and support of the organism will be performed mostly by autonomous systems, which will be able to function regularly and constantly. In particular, there will be a constant scanning of the organism including certain organs, functions, biometric parameters, etc. This will be a good example of a self-managing system making a complex decision autonomously. At the same time, these systems will be able to monitor significant fluctuations of indicators and make recommendations on short- and long-term living habits, as well as try to prevent deviations from the norm and deviations in behavior. Such a system, having perceived disturbing signals in the mood of the observed persons, can transfer the communication with them directly to a specialist (of course, by recording the conversation and analyzing it via neuro-computer methods or other analysis). That is, the technologies will allow the system to carry out some actions under certain circumstances, for example, to give an injection, artificial respiration, provide first aid or something like that. Or to give instructions to other people (systems) to perform such actions, as well as to contact urgent medical-technological centers.
- 4.
By the way, the interrelation between the environment and the ‘decision’ that a system makes on the basis of changes in the environment, is also the most important idea in cybernetics.
- 5.
Some analytics regard intelligent as more advanced than smart (e.g., Burian, 2021). In some respects it is true. So, in this chapter we are in a line with such an idea. However, with respect to smart houses, smart cities, etc., this can be not suitable.
- 6.
AI is sometimes defined as the ability of machines to perform mental (creative) tasks that were previously considered as human tasks.
- 7.
This definition, introduced by computer scientists Avron Barr and Edward Feigenbaum in the early 1980s, separates rather well the technology/science from the systems that use it: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the part of computer science concerned with designing intelligent computer systems, that is, systems that exhibit the characteristics we associate with intelligence in human behaviour—understanding language, learning, reasoning, solving problems, and so on” (Barr & Feigenbaum, 1981: 3).
- 8.
It is important to point out that due to this rapid development, artificial intelligence technology poses a major challenge for humanity (Eden et al., 2012). In recent years, communication technologies, data analysis and surveillance technology have considerably advanced. In 2023 a new rise of intellectual possibility of AI is beginning (see Chap. 10). As a result, the problem has become even more acute. A number of works have already been devoted to the analysis of various aspects of this problem in the present and the future (e.g., Westin, 1966; Ashman et al., 2014; Cecere et al., 2015; Moustaka et al., 2019; Schwartz, 1999; Solove, 2008; Brammer et al., 2020; Alharbi 2020).
- 9.
- 10.
The process is similar to the one observed in chemistry over the last hundred years, which has produced tens of thousands of artificial materials.
- 11.
See, e.g., Wang (2010).
- 12.
During the Industrial epoch, these elements existed separately: technologies were designed on paper or in the minds of engineers. At present, technology helps not only to design but also to manage the creation of new technologies. This facilitates the transition to the age of self-regulating systems.
- 13.
Different directions of the MANBRIC are already developing toward their convergence and the creation of a system cluster of innovations (for details see Chap. 4, in particular see Fig. 1. Relative global dynamics of patent grants for various technologies). In the future the effect of such clustering will be immense.
- 14.
In the 1950s to 1980s, the creation of computers in the USSR followed the old trajectory, that is, they were considered only as machines that should be used in relevant institutions or in production. At the same time, in the USA, since the 1970s, the trajectory of information technologies has taken a different path of creation of a personal computer (as previously of a personal car), which immediately expanded the market enormously and at the same time increased the power of new information technologies, which began to be used by tens of millions of people instead of tens of thousands of specialists.
- 15.
- 16.
However, universal technical things were also invented during this period (e.g., electric or internal combustion engines).
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This chapter has been prepared with support by the Russian Science Foundation (Project № 23-11-00160).
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Grinin, L., Grinin, A., Korotayev, A. (2024). Cybernetic Revolution and Self-managing Systems. In: Cybernetic Revolution and Global Aging. World-Systems Evolution and Global Futures. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56764-3_3
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