Design and the fourth industrial revolution. Dangers and opportunities for a mutating discipline

Abstract

The nature of design has always been related to socio-technological forces. In the twentieth century, the first and second orders of design were central in the establishment of graphic and industrial design. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the third and fourth orders of design were related to interactions and environments. This description can be associated with different phases of the Industrial Revolution: the first two phases allowed the transition from a farming and feudal society to an industrial and capitalist one, a third one was related to a post-industrial or services society. The Fourth Industrial Revolution presents the Internet, 3D printers and genetic algorithms as the main technical achievements and green energies as the energy source. It is related to computers, software, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and machine learning. These technological forces will create the space for the most important design jobs of the future.