Industrial revolutions 1.0 (1765) through 4.0 were about technology. In the age of woke, the European Union sells industry 5.0 as the ‘Wellbeing of workers while respecting the production limits of the planet.’ Others say it’s ‘leveraging the unique creativity of human experts to collaborate with powerful and smart machinery.’

At the last Ligna trade fair in Germany in 2023 I asked senior sales representatives from Biesse, SCM, Homag, Felder and Weinig Group if AI (artificial intelligence) was industry 5.0 At that time, the concept of Industry 5.0 was a relatively new one. Not all said it was, but none disagreed it could be. Seems we got it wrong. According to recent media releases by the European Union, industry 5.0 is about ‘Being human-centric, sustainable and resilient, that promotes talents, diversity and empowerment.’

What the ‘Experts’ Say

The EU states, “Industry 5.0 provides a vision of industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society. It places the wellbeing of the worker at the centre of the production process and uses innovative technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet.”

Praveen Kumar Reddy Maddikunta et al. (2021) say the objective of industry 5.0 is to, “Leverage the creativity of human experts in collaboration with efficient, intelligent and accurate machines, in order to obtain resource-efficient and user-preferred manufacturing solutions compared to Industry 4.0. Industry 5.0 can enhance the quality of the production by assigning repetitive and monotonous tasks to the robots/machines and the tasks which need critical thinking to humans. In Industry 5.0, the majority of the production process will be automated.”

Forbes Councils Member Gisela Carere, MBA adds, “Industry 5.0 is focused on harnessing the synergy of human brainpower and AI to create a robotic workforce that is perceptive and responsive to human goals and desires, human value and potential. We as business leaders should look forward and collaborate with ‘robot colleagues’ to help humans focus on creativity and experimentation. Regardless of what industry you are in, adaptation and agility can keep you competitive while you capitalize on new opportunities brought on by technological advancements.”

Feelings or Technology?

There’s a lot to unpack here, and at the risk of criticism, I’ll take a critical approach to the subject. The ‘experts’ use terms like human-centric, diversity and empowerment, the wellbeing of the worker, and the production limits of the planet. Also in there are comments about technological advancements, automated production process; and the harnessing of artificial intelligence to create a robotic workforce. If you believe like I do that AI will be the most significant technological innovation in history so far, it’s difficult to believe that it has been watered down as a subset of current woke talking points.

Industry 4.0 was allegedly coined by Klaus Schwab, a German engineer, economist and founder of the World Economic Forum. Schwab described industry 4.0 as “rapid changes in industries, technologies and processes, fuelled by the integration of latest tech innovations.” Industry 4.0 removed workers from production and according to Schwab, industry 5.0 is putting them back in. Frost & Sullivan, a reputable American business consulting firm said, “Industry 5.0 will bring back empowered humans to the shop floor.” So, the question needs to be asked, “If the workplace is now full of automation and robotics, what will humans do when they are re-introduced to the new work environment?”

The Impact of Robotics

Industry 3.0 (computerisation, 1969) and 4.0 (digital and internet technologies, 2000) removed many humans from manufacturing. Some time ago the MINI car plant in Oxford in the United Kingdom replaced 2,640 workers (3.3 workers to each robot according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in one production hall with eight hundred robots, now three maintenance people work there. If humans are to return to that facility, what will these ‘empowered’ people do?

And while you are thinking about that, take note that Time Magazine reported in 2020 that a paper by economists at MIT and Boston Universities said, “Robots could replace as many as 2 million U.S. workers (from 13 million as of January 2024 or around 15%) in manufacturing alone by 2025.” So, what is it? millions of jobs lost; or displaced workers returning to a workplace filled with automation and robots run by AI? In Australia, thewire.org.au states, “AI could replace over 1.3 million jobs in Australia by 2027 with up to 200,000 AI related jobs created.” A deficit of 1.1 million Australian jobs could hardly qualify as contributing to workers wellbeing.

Resources, Climate and Social Stability

The EU says industries can play an active role in providing solutions to challenges for society including the preservation of resources, climate change and social stability. The preservation of resources is an easy decision and to that end, industry mostly pursues a circular economy where recycling and repurposing are key ingredients. Climate change is still a debatable topic if the recent overwhelming U.S. election result and the focus of the new administration are anything to go by. It will be interesting to see how the ‘European Green Deal’ fits into the next decade of international trade with America out of the Paris accord and China’s 20% emissions (Australia 1.46%).

Industry 5.0 is described by the EU as a Human-Centric Strategy where the primary focus will no longer be on growth, profit, and efficiency. It’s a strategy that many manufacturers may find difficult to process, since one of the main reasons an individual would start a business is to provide an income and a future for themselves, and in the process, for their employees. Also, in the EU infographic we see ‘sustainability’ as one of the three pillars of Industry 5.0 It’s an issue everyone is coming to terms with, from our suppliers, manufacturers and consumers. The third pillar is ‘resilience’ using flexible and adaptable technologies and Australia is well on track here.

Industry 5.0 Reality

So far, Industry 5.0 has not gained a lot of traction. Businesses are still heavily engaged in understanding and implementing Industry 4.0 manufacturing strategies while tackling changing consumer demands and in some cases, the implementation of advanced materials. However, Artificial Intelligence is making its way into the timber and cabinet industries. One example is Weinig scanning technology using AI to identify a defect from tens of thousands of stored images within a split second. Preventative maintenance technologies exist on CNC machinery and coming soon, AI will be able to manage energy, vacuum and dust extraction requirements without human intervention.

So, what is Industry 5.0? One cannot argue that being human centric, sustainable and resilient are prominent issues but one that Australian manufacturers are already dealing with. Whether they constitute an industrial revolution is the question. Technology is acknowledged in the EU’s description of the revolution, but only as a means to support the three pillars. I still find it difficult to comprehend that workers feelings fall into the same category as the development of Steam, electricity, computerisation, and the internet. Just because Klaus Schwab says this, doesn’t make it true. For me at least, AI promises to revolutionise the way we live, and also the way we work and should have been designated Industry 5.0