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In plain terms, the 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) means people and machines working together, with technology designed around human needs, well-being and sustainability rather than built to replace people. Below you will find how 5IR follows the first four industrial revolutions, the technologies and design principles behind it, and what it changes for people at work. To put the human-and-machine side of 5IR into practice, BOTI’s AI and Copilot courses show staff how to use AI tools in their everyday work.
This is Part 2 of our series on the 5th Industrial Revolution. Part 1 introduced the idea; this part explains what 5IR means, the technologies behind it and how it changes the relationship between people and technology at work.
The evolution of industrial revolutions
Each industrial revolution has been a stepping stone to the next, building on the innovations of the one before it:
- The 1st Industrial Revolution (about 1760 to 1840): mechanisation, water power and steam engines moved production from hand work to machines.
- The 2nd Industrial Revolution (late 1800s): electricity, steel and the internal combustion engine brought mass production and rapid growth in manufacturing and infrastructure.
- The 3rd Industrial Revolution (second half of the 20th century): also called the Digital Revolution, it brought electronics, computers and later the internet, which automated production and changed how we work and communicate.
- The 4th Industrial Revolution (early 21st century): artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain began to join digital and physical systems together.
The 5th Industrial Revolution is still taking shape. Unlike the earlier revolutions, it is not defined by a new source of power or a single breakthrough technology. It is defined by a change of purpose: using the technologies of the fourth revolution in ways that put people, society and the environment first. You will also see the idea described as Industry 5.0.
What is the 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR)? The meaning of 5IR
5IR, or the fifth industrial revolution, describes an approach to technology built on three ideas:
- Human-centred: technology is designed around people’s needs, skills and well-being, and it supports human judgement rather than replacing it.
- People and machines working together: each does what it does well. Machines bring speed, precision and the ability to process large amounts of data; people bring judgement, creativity, empathy and the ability to deal with the unexpected.
- Sustainable: technological progress should reduce waste, save energy and materials, and avoid harming the environment.
Put simply, where the fourth revolution asked what technology can do, the fifth asks what it should do, and for whom.
From automation anxiety to collaboration
Much of the public discussion of the 4th Industrial Revolution focused on automation and the fear that machines and algorithms would take over work that people do. That concern has not gone away, and some tasks will continue to be automated. The 5IR view changes the emphasis. The aim is not to remove people from the process but to combine the strengths of people and machines, so that technology makes people more capable rather than less necessary.
For employers, that is a practical design question. When you introduce a new tool, ask which parts of the job it should take over, which decisions should stay with people, and what the people doing the job need to learn to work well with it.
The symbiosis of humans and machines
The 5th Industrial Revolution focuses on using advanced technologies to improve the quality of life of everyone they affect: society at large, businesses, employees and customers. Earlier industrial revolutions often required people to adapt to machines; 5IR expects machines to adapt to people. Key aspects of this symbiosis include:
- Human-centred design: tools are intuitive and accessible, and they are designed around the way people actually work.
- Technology that responds to people: systems adapt to the user’s needs, pace and level of skill, and they explain their output clearly enough for a person to check it.
- Sustainability: technological progress does not come at the expense of the environment.
- Well-being and safety: technology makes work safer and healthier, for example by taking on dangerous or highly repetitive tasks.
5IR technologies
There is no separate set of 5IR technologies. 5IR uses the technologies of the fourth revolution and points them at human needs. Examples include:
- AI assistants that draft, summarise and analyse, while a person checks the output and makes the decision
- collaborative robots, often called cobots, which are designed to work safely alongside people
- the Internet of Things: sensors that monitor equipment, energy use and working conditions
- data and analytics that help people make better decisions, with the reasoning kept visible
- wearable devices that support health and safety at work
- technology that saves energy and materials, making production more sustainable
A change in consciousness: from what technology can do to what it should do
The 5th Industrial Revolution is not only about technology. It also asks organisations to change the way they think about technology: to recognise its potential to make work and society better, and to take responsibility for how it is used. In practice, that shift shows up in three ways:
- Collaboration: people work together, across teams and with technology, towards shared goals.
- Awareness: people understand what the tools they use can and cannot do, and they question the output instead of accepting it blindly.
- Empathy and responsibility: decisions about technology take into account their effect on employees, customers and communities, including privacy and fairness.
What 5IR means for people at work
When people and machines share the work, the skills that matter most change:
- Digital and AI skills: using AI tools productively and responsibly, writing clear prompts and checking the results.
- Critical thinking and judgement: knowing when to rely on a system’s output and when to challenge it.
- Creativity and problem solving: finding new ways to use technology to serve customers and colleagues.
- Emotional intelligence and communication: the human skills that machines do not replace.
- Adaptability: learning new tools and ways of working as they arrive.
BOTI’s one-day Introduction to AI for the Workplace covers widely used AI tools, good prompting and responsible use, for any employee. AI Tools for Everyday Productivity covers everyday AI apps for writing, notes, slides and simple automation, and AI for Managers and Leaders helps managers lead AI adoption in their area, including governance and managing the change.
Embracing the future
For South African organisations, the practical question is not whether 5IR has arrived but how to introduce new technology in a way that helps people do better work. A sensible way to start:
- List the tasks in each role that are repetitive, slow or prone to error, and ask the people who do them where technology could help.
- Try one tool on one task first, with clear guidelines on protecting personal information and on checking the output.
- Train the people affected before and during the change, not afterwards.
- Measure the effect on quality, on time saved and on the people doing the work, and adjust.
- Keep a person accountable for every decision that affects customers or employees.
5IR starts where 4IR left off, so the foundations are the same: understanding the technologies of the fourth revolution and preparing people to use them well, in ways that are more connected, more humane and more sustainable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR)?
The 5th Industrial Revolution is the stage that follows the fourth. It is not simply more automation: it is a shift towards a symbiotic relationship between humans and machines, in which technology adapts to human needs instead of people adapting to machines. Its focus is using advanced technology to improve quality of life for society, businesses, employees and customers, without harming the environment.
What are 5IR technologies?
5IR does not have a separate set of technologies. It builds on fourth-revolution technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and the Internet of Things, and points them at human needs. Examples include AI assistants that support people’s decisions, collaborative robots that work safely alongside people, sensors and wearable devices that support health and safety at work, and technology that saves energy and materials. Human-centred design, which makes technology intuitive and accessible, runs through all of them.
How is the 5th Industrial Revolution different from the 4th?
The fourth industrial revolution brought artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things and blockchain, integrating digital and physical systems, and with them came fears that automation would displace human jobs. The fifth keeps those technologies but changes the aim: humans and machines collaborate, machines adapt to people rather than the other way round, and innovation is directed at well-being and sustainability.
What does 5IR mean for people at work?
In a 5IR workplace, technology is designed to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them, so people work alongside AI and automated systems instead of competing with them. The emphasis moves to collaboration, empathy and well-being, and to using new tools in ways that serve employees and customers as well as the business.
Each industrial revolution builds on the one before it, so 5IR starts from the technologies of the fourth: AI, robotics, the Internet of Things and blockchain. BOTI’s two-day course, Prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in South Africa, runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or online.