CYBERJOURNAL FOR PENTECOSTAL-CHARISMATIC RESEARCH #26

"The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on Pentecostal Higher Education”

By Daniel Topf

Introduction

            Higher education today is characterized by massification, which means that for many people, attaining a college degree is seen as a requirement to become (or remain) a member of the middle class.[1] Under such circumstances, a college degree is primarily seen as a preparation or credential which enables young people to get a decent job. But what kind of jobs will be available in the future? And what kind of (college) preparation will be needed to succeed in those careers?

There are no obvious answers to these kinds of questions, especially not in the fast-moving world of the twenty-first century in which both manufacturing and services are being revolutionized by phenomena like virtual reality and artificial intelligence. A variety of experts believe we are now living in the initial stage of “the fourth industrial revolution,” also known as “the second machine age” as MIT economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee describe it.[2] They speak of a “second machine age” to differentiate between the mechanical machines of the Industrial Revolution (such as the steam engine and the combustion engine) and the digital, smart, and interconnected machines which are being built in today’s computer age.

The term “fourth industrial revolution” describes the same idea but with more nuance, pointing to previous developments in several stages, namely the first industrial revolution (which brought industries such as the textile and the iron industry), the second industrial revolution (which introduced new sources of energy, such as electricity and oil), and the third industrial revolution (which, since the 1980s, has brought about innovation through electronic devices and networks such as computers and the Internet). The fourth industrial revolution builds on the third but deserves its own description as it has the potential of altering human life in more radical ways due to innovations in areas like advanced robotics, biotechnology, genetic engineering, 3D printing, and nanotechnology.[3]

            In this article, I begin by describing the fast-changing and technology-driven environment of the fourth industrial revolution in greater detail. I then point to some implications for colleges and universities that want to prepare their students for this brave new world. More specifically, I address this subject at its intersection with pentecostal higher education.[4] The fourth industrial revolution is a reality of our time, which, while being challenging, also creates promising opportunities, particularly for pentecostal colleges and universities.  

The Fourth Industrial Revolution

            In the following section, I describe the fourth industrial revolution in more detail by discussing three main dimensions. First, I discuss its technological dimension, showing the fourth industrial revolution is a phenomenon primarily driven by technological innovation. Second, I examine the economic dimension of the fourth industrial revolution, demonstrating it could lead to unprecedented job losses. Third, I address the socio-political dimension of the fourth industrial revolution, particularly the need to develop novel approaches in higher education.

The Technological Dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

            While the potential dominance of robots in a new machine age has been a theme for some time,[5] the term “fourth industrial revolution” is a relatively new one. Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, introduced the term to a wider audience during the Davos summit in 2016, and that same year Schwab also published a book with the title The Fourth Industrial Revolution.[6] As the term indicates, there is a historical dimension to it: people’s lives have been changed by technological innovations for centuries, and this accelerated during the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century. Since then, new discoveries and inventions have continued to shape how humans live and work. Michael A. Peters summarizes this sequence as follows: “If the era of the Industrial Revolution was the First Machine Age, and Electricity the Second, then Electronics was the Third and the Internet as platform the Fourth.”[7] A visual representation of this timeline can be found in figure 1 on the following page.

            The fourth industrial revolution has far-reaching economic and social implications, but it first needs to be understood as a phenomenon driven by new technological breakthroughs, especially in the area of digital technologies. As McAfee explained during an interview by the Harvard Business Review, “Digital technologies are doing for human brainpower what the steam engine and related technologies did for human muscle power during the Industrial Revolution.”[8] These new technologies that will change the way people live and work include robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, autonomous vehicles, automated retail systems, nanotechnology, biotechnology, neurotechnology, virtual reality, blockchain technology, advanced materials science, energy storage, geoengineering, space technologies, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence (AI).[9] 

Since there are so many different technologies involved and the speed of innovation is so breath-taking, I will briefly describe three examples from recent years which indicate the fourth industrial revolution has already begun. These three examples are: (1) “AlphaZero,” serving as an instance of a self-taught chess engine; (2) self-driving cars as exemplified by “Waymo”; and (3) “Sophia” as an example of a humanoid robot.

In December 2017 the computer program “AlphaZero,” equipped with an artificial intelligence approach to learning, defeated “Stockfish,” a chess engine that searches up to seventy million positions per second. Stockfish’s performance is characteristic of the third industrial revolution, using the “brute force” of computing power.[10] By contrast, AlphaZero is better characterized as a machine of the fourth industrial revolution: unlike other chess programs, AlphaZero was only programmed with the rules for chess and after that learned and became better by playing against itself, mastering the game of chess within one day.[11] With this impressive performance record, programs like AlphaZero remind us the future in which machines will radically outperform humans has already begun. As Mike Klein wrote in an article about the matches between AlphaZero and Stockfish, “Chess changed forever today. And maybe the rest of the world did, too.”[12]

Figure 1. The Fourth Industrial Revolution[13]

Granted, strategy games like chess, Shogi, or Go are highly complex, but they still operate within a strictly limited environment controlled by rules. But what about a complex open system like traffic? In order to drive by itself, a computerized car would not only have to learn all the traffic rules but also be able to “see” and evaluate its environment with a 360-degree vision. This is a challenging task in which complex legal issues have to be addressed as well, but several companies are already making notable progress toward presenting a fully autonomous vehicle to the public in the near future.[14] Among these companies, “Waymo” in particular, a division of Alphabet (the parent company of Google), has made substantial progress.[15] Through a pilot project in Phoenix, Arizona, Waymo has been able to gain experience as its autonomous cars have driven over eight million miles so far. It therefore seems to be only a matter of time until driverless cars and trucks will become part of daily life and may even come to dominate the traffic landscape within our lifetime. 

In March 2017, Hanson Robotics presented a female robot called “Sophia” to the public. Since then, Sophia has become somewhat of a celebrity; she has her own website, became a cover girl of the magazine Elle, was interviewed on late night shows, and even gave a speech in front of the UN.[16] Shortly after that, Sophia became the first robot to receive citizenship––during the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh, it was announced Sophia was now a (non-human) citizen of Saudi Arabia.[17] Granted, Sophia may seem to be little more than a PR stunt at this point, but other companies are experimenting with humanoid robots as well, and they “will be making their ways into your schools, work and homes over the next decade.”[18]

The Economic Dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

            What are the economic implications of recent technologies like advanced robotics, autonomous vehicles, and self-learning computer programs? To begin with, these new technologies have incredible potential for producing substantial economic growth throughout the twenty-first century. Entirely new industries will emerge and create new demands, thereby bringing in billions of dollars through products and services that did not even exist a few decades ago.[19] In addition, digital technologies will also help to make the production processes of existing industries more efficient, leading to greater productivity and profitability. This novel approach to manufacturing is also known as “Industry 4.0” or the “smart factory” in which cyber-physical systems coordinate the entire value chain in such a way as to create products of high value for the end-user.[20]

            However, there is also a downside to the smart factory and other developments of the fourth industrial revolution––the loss of jobs on an unprecedented scale.[21] Increased automation leads to optimized production processes, but it also leads to a world in which fewer and fewer workers will be needed. Not only will factories need fewer employees, but other sectors of the economy will also be affected as the following examples show.

·         There may be a decreased demand for truck or taxi drivers, and even (part-time) Uber and Lyft drivers are in danger of losing their source of income. Human drivers get tired, make mistakes, experience road rage, and sometimes drive under the influence––by contrast, AI-driven cars consistently have the same level of performance, are constantly learning, and can communicate with other cars on the road, thereby reducing the number of accidents and optimizing traffic flows.[22]

·         Hotels may prefer to utilize robots as receptionists and concierges––service workers who are never tired, never get angry, and are always up-to-date.[23] Other service areas, such as fast food restaurants, may also see an increased usage of robots, and stores will increasingly make use of self-service checkout lanes as well as vending machines and kiosks (as in the case of Redbox, for example).[24]

·         Robots are particularly attractive when it comes to performing dangerous tasks, such as aiding security guards, police officers, and firefighters.[25] In the military, remote-controlled drones are already a reality, the US Navy is already testing “Sea Hunter,” an autonomous boat,[26] and in the future humanoid combat robots may replace regular infantry soldiers.

Granted, people with limited qualifications and no formal education have always been more vulnerable members of society. Blue-collar workers, unskilled laborers, and seasonal workers have already been under pressure in recent decades, and life may become even more challenging for them in the years to come. However, the fourth industrial revolution is unique in that it also places unprecedented pressure on white-collar jobs such as reporters, secretaries, translators, IT workers, engineers, call center workers, paralegals, tax preparers, insurance appraisers, real estate brokers, and possibly even artists and scientists.[27] Furthermore, in an age of artificial intelligence and big data, even professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants may have to compete with increasingly sophisticated machines: 

·         Doctors spend a large amount of their time diagnosing patients, but a smart system like IBM’s Watson can access all kind of data within seconds, including the most recent research findings.[28] In addition, it seems the fourth industrial revolution will not only change diagnostics but treatment as well. In China, a robot dentist in 2017 was the first to fit two new teeth into a patient’s mouth––performing a successful medical procedure without any direct human involvement.[29]

·         The robotic lawyer “Ross” (also based on IBM’s Watson), has already been hired by several large law firms.[30] Other technologies such as the blockchain (currently mostly known as the technology behind Bitcoin) will have an impact on the area of law as well. As Martin Ford explains in his book Rise of the Robots, “The Blockchain will be to banking, law and accountancy as The Internet was to media, commerce and advertising.”[31]

·         In accounting, specialized computer programs can take care of routine tasks such as tax preparation or invoice accounting. Other professions in the financial sector, such as traders, have already been affected in recent years. For example, “In 2000, Goldman Sachs’ New York office employed 600 traders. In 2017, only two equity traders were left, supported by automated trading programs;” even more astonishing, “at least one investment firm already has an AI board member.”[32]

            These scenarios of increasing job losses across industries are certainly alarming.[33] What could possibly be done to counter these negative effects of the fourth industrial revolution? One possibility which has been suggested on several occasions is to provide a Universal Basic Income (UBI), so even those who have lost their jobs still have enough to live on.[34] However, UBI is a highly controversial concept, especially because there is no guarantee people will still be creative and productive once their basic needs are being met automatically. In addition, work, and being rewarded for it, seems to be a fundamental human need. A more promising approach is therefore to focus on education, enabling people to upgrade their skills and to be successful in the rapidly changing environment of a knowledge-based society.

The Socio-Political Dimension of the Fourth Industrial Revolution         

            Given the expected disruptions on the labor market, politicians will have to respond to the challenges the fourth industrial revolution brings. These challenges will be felt not only in developed countries but probably even more so in developing countries. As Schwab explains,

The impact of AI and robotics on labour markets is expected to grow, both in developing and developed regions. In the United States, estimates range from 10% to nearly 50% of US jobs at risk of computerization. In China, Foxconn replaced 60,000 workers in factories with robots over the course of two years. Automation could undermine industrialization in developing countries by undercutting their labour cost advantage: production once offshored by developed countries is now being reshored.[35]

            Considering the fourth industrial revolution is based on the third (as well as the second and the first), many poor countries are in a difficult position to compete. Highly industrialized nations have a clear advantage when it comes to processes like automation, and innovative technologies like 3D printing will enable increasingly local production. Consumers will prefer these kinds of products because of their shorter lead times, and possibly also because of other reasons, such as environmental and political considerations. This process is under way even now: already in 2012, a survey of the Boston Consulting Group among American manufacturing executives found “that nearly half of companies with sales exceeding $10 billion were either actively pursuing or considering bringing factories back to the United States.”[36]

In light of these developments, it may well be the golden age of globalization is already coming to an end. Instead of global sourcing, local production may become a major trend, which means every country will need the capability to be competitive in producing its own goods and services. As Schwab predicts: “Looking ahead, the distinction between high- and low-cost countries, or between emerging and mature markets, will matter less and less. Instead, the key question will be whether an economy can innovate.”[37] In order to succeed in such an innovation-driven environment, people will have to embrace new levels of education, independently of whether the goods they produce are primarily for export markets or for domestic consumption (see also table 1 on the following page). However, it seems even in developed countries, the existing institutions and educational systems are not ready for such an age of fast-paced change and innovation. As the Israeli historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari observes, “Most of what we teach children today in school or in college is going to be completely irrelevant for the job market of 2040 [or] 2050.”[38]

The problem with the current education system is it was geared toward an industrial age, to a way of thinking and producing which is rapidly disappearing. This is confirmed by Brynjolfsson who acknowledges, “The sad reality is that much of our education today ... is really geared towards an industrial economy” with a focus on memorizing facts and following instructions, “but let’s face it: memorizing facts, following instructions, that is what machines do well!”[39] However, he believes there is also hope as humans have a comparative advantage in two crucial areas: creativity (thinking outside the box) and interpersonal skills. Similarly, the World Economic Forum suggests the following are the top ten qualifications needed for people to thrive in the future: (1) complex problem solving, (2) critical thinking, (3) creativity, (4) people management, (5) coordinating with others, (6) emotional intelligence, (7) judgment and decision-making, (8) service orientation, (9) negotiation, and (10) cognitive flexibility.[40] Accordingly, education needs to prepare people with skills that will enable them to perform tasks at which machines cannot easily outperform them. In the following section, I will focus on how such an education, particularly higher education, could look.

Table 1. Implications of the Second Machine Age

Implications for Pentecostal Higher Education

            In the following, I make a few suggestions regarding the future of higher education as colleges and universities aim to prepare their graduates for the fourth industrial revolution, for a “world in flux” in which students “cannot count on continuing for any length of time in the job or even the field for which they were originally trained.”[41] To address this topic, I draw mainly on the insights from secular sources and non-Christian experts and then apply those insights to pentecostal educational settings, showing pentecostal higher education has both strength and weaknesses as it faces the technological, social, and moral challenges the fourth industrial revolution brings about.

Science, Technology, and Application

            One of the more immediate consequences of the fourth industrial revolution for higher education is to place a renewed emphasis on the natural sciences. Traditionally, these have been characterized as the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects.[42] These foundational subjects will continue to play a vital role but, in addition, it will be crucial to explore novel and interdisciplinary areas like biotechnology, biomedical engineering, computer science, material science, computational biology and bioinformatics, molecular physiology, nanoscience, and data science.[43]

Furthermore, in an age which will be dominated by computers, several experts are emphasizing how important it is for students to learn how to code. For instance, Alec Ross praises the level of innovation one encounters in Estonia, a country where “all schoolchildren are taught how to code beginning in the first grade.”[44] Traditionally, it has been considered an essential element of a well-rounded education for a young person to learn one or two foreign languages. However, in an age in which software programs will soon be able to provide instant translations into any language, that skill may soon lose its importance. Instead, it may be more important for students to learn one or two coding languages, so they can combine technological knowledge with the particular area they are interested in.[45] As Lord Baker observed during a discussion about reforming the English education system: “design and technology is every bit as important as modern foreign languages, if not more so.”[46]

This emphasis on digital technologies is also changing the way higher education needs to work in order to prepare people for new job opportunities. As Joseph E. Aoun, the current president of Northwestern University, recognizes: “Of the new full-time jobs that are appearing, many are so-called hybrid jobs that require technological expertise in programming or data analysis alongside broader skills.”[47] In his book Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Aoun therefore suggests a new framework for education, which he calls “humanics.” Within this framework, it is essential students acquire three literacies: data literacy, technological literacy, and human literacy.[48]

Pentecostal colleges and universities are usually strong in offering an education that majors on human literacy, but they are woefully unprepared for the technical aspects of the fourth industrial revolution.[49] Traditionally, pentecostal schools have mostly focused on Bible and theology, but some have developed into liberal arts colleges, and a few (such as Oral Roberts University) offer a wide range of subjects (including biomedical engineering, medical molecular biology, and computer information technology).[50] Yet, for the most part, pentecostal higher education is relatively weak in the sciences and insufficient in areas like research and innovation.[51] This is partly because of an anti-science attitude rooted in pentecostalism’s fundamentalist past and partly because building a cutting-edge science program at a university (in particular for sciences that require laboratories and sophisticated equipment) is extremely expensive.[52] However, pentecostal pragmatism lends itself to focus on areas of technology-driven applications; accordingly, it may be beneficial to for pentecostal schools to develop less cost-intensive programs, such as in the area of coding. After all, as Aoun puts it: “Because coding is the lingua franca of the digital world, everyone should be conversant in it.”[53]

            Professors and administrators at pentecostal schools ought to consider the kinds of jobs that will be available for their students once they graduate. Currently, there is a need for tech-savvy professionals like systems software engineers, database administrators, and network systems analysts.[54] Another example of a promising field is cyber security, an area in which there is great demand for talent, as both private businesses and government institutions need to rapidly upgrade their infrastructure in order to protect their assets and their citizens. As Ross, author of The Industries of the Future, affirms, “If any college student asked me what career would assure 50 years of steady, well-paying employment, I would respond, ‘Cybersecurity.’”[55]

Another way of looking at this challenge of a rapidly changing labor market is to determine what kind of skills employers are looking for. The networking website LinkedIn compiled a list of skills most in demand by employers––skills like “cloud and distributed computing,” “statistical analysis and data mining,” and “web architecture and development framework.” It is noteworthy that, “according to LinkedIn’s list, every single one of the ten most desirable skills on the planet is technological.”[56] However, this does not mean technical skills are the only ones which will be required to find a job in the future––quite the contrary, considering technical tasks will be increasingly performed by machines, it is precisely those distinctly human qualities like entrepreneurship and creativity that will allow people to flourish.

Entrepreneurship, Creativity, and Problem-Solving

            During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum, Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer of Infosys, USA, suggested there is a need for “a billion entrepreneurs” in the future.[57] Considering the shifting realities in the labor market, such a bold vision makes sense: as fewer traditional jobs are being offered, people will need to create their own niche in which they can be successful. Others have recognized this need for entrepreneurship as well, including educators like Aoun and economists like Brynjolfsson and McAfee.[58]

On the macro-economic and political levels, Schwab recognizes that “to remain competitive, both companies and countries must be at the frontier of innovation in all its forms.”[59] Accordingly, colleges and universities need to become more innovative as well and inspire and empower their students to become innovators themselves. “Teaching entrepreneurship––especially social entrepreneurship––should thus be a matter of national consequence and a priority for universities.”[60] This kind of focus on entrepreneurship and innovation may require structural changes, such as cultivating connections between universities and industry, organizing conferences on innovation and entrepreneurship, encouraging interdisciplinary research, and exposing students to real-life problems.[61]

            Herein lies an opportunity for pentecostals because pentecostalism is, at its roots, an innovative and entrepreneurial religious movement.[62] Traditionally, pentecostals have been successful in planting churches from scratch, in developing new ministries, and in making use of the newest media and technologies to spread their message.[63] However, for the most part, this entrepreneurial spirit has only been strong within the religious world of evangelism and church planting.[64] The challenge for pentecostals in the twenty-first century will be to become innovative and entrepreneurial in other areas as well, to make contributions to solving the world’s problems by presenting solutions in areas such as economics, the sciences, and politics.[65]

Not every single person will become an entrepreneur in the sense of starting their own company, but even regular employees will be expected to be more and more entrepreneurial in the way they approach their work. “Increasingly, society will demand graduates who possess a heightened power for thinking creatively and flexibly––for thinking differently than machines.”[66] This means critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills need to be principal elements of the kind of higher education that will prepare people for the realities of the fourth industrial revolution. Consequently, pentecostal educators need to think about whether critical thinking is being sufficiently encouraged at their institutions, and what kind of teaching approaches and learning experiences will unleash creativity in their students.

Emotional Intelligence and People Skills

            In discussions related to the fourth industrial revolution, both policy makers and educators emphasize the need for being human-centered. Technological development must not become an end in itself; the various new technologies and applications that are currently being explored need to be beneficial to humanity. Otherwise they have no purpose or may possibly lead to an apocalyptic dystopia in which humans are enslaved or even destroyed by the very machines they have created.[67] Even apart from such extreme (and rather unlikely) scenarios, it is essential to focus on human-centeredness, something that is repeatedly emphasized by experts at the World Economic Forum. As Schwab affirms, “the more digital and high-tech the world becomes, the greater the need to still feel the human touch, nurtured by close relationships and social connections.”[68]

            Human-centeredness as a key value also has important implications for how higher education is being conceived and organized. As Bryan Edward Penprase, Dean of Faculty at the Soka University of America, recognizes, “From strictly economic terms, students who are capable of creative insights, collaborating in diverse teams, and navigating through global cultural differences will be at an advantage.”[69] That is to say, the workplace of the future will not only require technical skills but people skills as well.[70] After all, of the top ten qualifications for future employability suggested by the World Economic Forum (as mentioned above), five have to do with social skills (people management, coordinating with others, emotional intelligence, service orientation, and negotiation).[71] Accordingly, educators who are thinking about the fourth industrial revolution and its implications have emphasized the importance of teaching students people skills, such as communication skills, brainstorming, collaboration, leadership, and cultural agility (the ability “to perform successfully in cross-cultural situations”).[72]

Pentecostals have an advantage here. In a pentecostal college, students can experience a human (and even transcendent) touch as they raise their hands during a chapel worship service, receive a personal prophecy in class, or lay hands on somebody as they pray for them.[73] This dimension of the human touch is not only crucial for college-age students but also for children growing up. As the award-winning teacher Elisa Guerra affirms: “Children need the artistic touch of human connection to reach their unique potential. And that comes from either a teacher, a parent, or both.”[74] Pentecostals can offer this kind of personal and nurturing environment in which young people grow up nurtured by both parents and teachers united by a common faith. Furthermore, a pentecostal faith affirms the affectivity of people’s humanity, thereby preparing students for a working environment in which emotional intelligence will be of high value.

In addition, pentecostal schools also have a strength in teaching cross-cultural competencies to their students as pentecostalism has grown into a truly global faith.[75] From its early days, pentecostalism has been characterized by bringing together people from diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, and students will be able to experience this by studying on diverse campuses, going on mission trips, and taking advantage of other global connections such as international projects and internships. Through this kind of exposure, pentecostal students will have a tangible advantage that will help them succeed in the interconnected world of the fourth industrial revolution.

Ethics and Making Moral Decisions

Another crucial skill for life and work in the fourth industrial revolution will be the ability to exercise discernment and sound judgment. Making ethical decisions amid rapid and radical technological changes will be a major challenge, one which Schwab describes as follows: “We may see designer babies in the near future, along with a whole series of other edits to our humanity––from eradicating genetic diseases to augmenting human cognition. These will raise some of the biggest ethical and spiritual questions we face as human beings.”[76] Besides genetic engineering, other technological fields will lead to ethical dilemmas as well, as Aoun recognizes,

The military faces thickets of ethical and legal conundrums as autonomous weapons become a technological reality: What ethical principles should govern the design and development of AI? How do we align these new machines with our values––and which values do we favor? If they cause harm, who is morally culpable? Only human beings can unleash the free agency of machines in situations that will result in human death. To take that step or not, we will need philosophers as well as lawyers.[77]

These ethical and moral challenges of the future require a response from educational institutions; they will have to be addressed both at school and in institutions of higher education.[78] As Penprase affirms, “More than any particular content area, curriculum needs to help students develop the capacity for ethical reasoning, for awareness of societal and human impacts, and to be able to comprehend the impacts of 4IR technologies on people, so they are trained to not only increase our material prosperity but also to improve our social and cultural fabric.”[79]

These challenges related to ethical reasoning and human impacts provide unique opportunities for pentecostal colleges and universities to distinguish themselves from secular institutions. Being part of the Christian tradition, pentecostals share with other Christians a profound regard for the sanctity of life. Traditionally, this affirmation has been based on the imago Dei, the idea that humans are created in the image of God and are therefore qualitatively different from other living creatures.[80] In the future, theologians will have to formulate to what extent humans are also qualitatively different from algorithms and robots, even if their artistic and intellectual capabilities might soon be superior to that which humans can accomplish.

 Apart from having a different Menschenbild than secular institutions, pentecostal institutions of higher education are also different in their senses of mission and purpose. They certainly want to prepare their graduates for successful employment, but beyond that they share an inspired vision to serve society as a whole. Pentecostal universities have mission statements like “to build Holy Spirit-empowered leaders ... to impact the world with God’s healing,” to “equip each student for a Spirit-empowered life of Christ-centered leadership and service,” and to impact society “by raising global leaders as change agents imbued with God-fearing attributes.”[81]

In formulating such mission statements, pentecostal universities demonstrate they are not committed to knowledge for knowledge’s sake, but are operating within a wider framework, one that improves “our social and cultural fabric” as the (secular) educator mentioned above formulated it. In order to achieve this, colleges and universities need to form their students in a holistic manner. One such holistic approach has been suggested by the pentecostal educator Jeff Hittenberger who believes students need to acquire the following core human competencies: (1) communication, (2) collaboration, (3) critical thinking, (4) creativity, and (5) character.[82] In embracing and promoting these “5Cs,” pentecostal institutions of higher education will be able to create value for both the individual student and society as a whole.

Providing Meaning

            In the midst of the changes the fourth industrial revolution is bringing about, people will not only try to find jobs, but they will also aspire to find meaning in life. As Schwab recognizes, “we are at a point where the desire for purposeful engagement is becoming a major issue.”[83] Increasing levels of automation may lead to large numbers of people who are left behind and who would then become members of the “useless class,” a term coined by best-selling author Harari. In his book Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Harari explores the question of what will keep these people occupied and speculates,

One answer might be drugs and computer games. Unnecessary people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D virtual-reality worlds that would provide them with far more excitement and emotional engagement than the drab reality outside. Yet such a development would deal a mortal blow to the liberal belief in the sacredness of human life and of human experiences. What’s so sacred about useless bums who pass their days devouring artificial experiences?[84]

In contrast to such a bleak scenario, Christian institutions of higher education can offer a worldview which affirms there is value in who humans are and meaning in what they do––independently of how productive and powerful machines may become in the future. A fruitful conversation partner for pentecostals to expand on the spiritual foundations of education is John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), who is “widely recognized as a pivotal figure in the history of educational thought."[85] In stark contrast to Harari, Comenius does not have an anthropocentric but theocentric view of the world; he criticizes the tendency of humans to want to be independent rulers and their desire to become gods, instead of depending on God in their task to exercise dominion over nature. For Comenius, education is not merely a tool for personal or even societal gain; he believes in a greater, a theological framework, in which humans fulfill the cultural mandate God has given them. According to Comenius, the goal of all human activity is to restore the peace of God in God’s world by bringing the world back to God who is the source of all things, including both the natural and the spiritual realm.[86]

 The need for a transcendent, spiritual dimension of human life is also something secular thinkers acknowledge. For example, Guerra asked the question, “What, then should students learn to be better equipped for the challenges of our times and for the future?”[87] Among the answers she received were concepts and skills already discussed in this article, such as “global citizenship, soft skills, environmental awareness, digital literacy, critical thinking, relationships, teamwork, entrepreneurship”––but then she also added, “and even meditation!”[88]

            This list of crucial concepts and skills demonstrates educators see the need for students to not only acquire technological and social capabilities, but to develop the spiritual dimension of their lives as well. In the area of spirituality pentecostal colleges and universities have a distinct advantage; pentecostals can talk about an experiential spirituality with ease, and this may be very attractive within a secular environment in which traditional expressions of religion are increasingly being discarded.[89] By providing a learning experience that enriches students’ lives in both relational and transcendent dimensions, pentecostal institutions of higher education can become an attractive destination for both Christians and non-Christians who are looking for a place that provides them with a sense of meaning and purpose.

Conclusion

            In this article, I have described some of the main elements of the fourth industrial revolution and made suggestions regarding what this might mean for the future of higher education, particularly in a pentecostal context. The fourth industrial revolution is primarily a technological phenomenon, characterized by innovative technologies like nanotechnology, bioengineering, 3D printing, and artificial intelligence. These technological innovations have profound socio-economic implications; one of the most serious of these implications being the possible loss of both blue-collar and white-collar jobs on a massive scale.

            As the world is changing, so higher education must change as well. There is increasing pressure from both the public and policymakers for colleges and universities to demonstrate they are contributing to modern society, that they are preparing students for a future characterized by uncertainties. Higher education in the age of the fourth industrial revolution needs to make students job-ready, but also needs to prepare them to be future-ready. This means, on the one hand, universities need to be able to prepare students for certain careers, for professions that will be in high demand in decades to come––such as careers in cyber security, data analysis, and coding. On the other hand, it also means universities need to equip their students with general skills and capabilities and a love for life-long learning, so they will be able to adapt and thrive in new environments and fields of study which maybe did not even exist when they were studying for their first degree.

            What do these developments mean for pentecostal colleges and universities? The impact of the fourth industrial revolution will create both challenges and opportunities for pentecostal higher education. To begin with, because the fourth industrial revolution is primarily a technology-driven development, pentecostal schools will have to do more to offer excellent programs in the traditional STEM subjects as well as in new areas like computational biology, data science, and nanotechnology. Considering the traditionally antagonistic attitude many pentecostals have had toward the sciences, this could be a major challenge. There is hope, however, pentecostals will embrace new technological developments on the application level and make it a priority to teach their students certain specific skills, such as coding.

            In this article, I have also highlighted several areas in which pentecostal institutions of higher education have distinct advantages as they sail the stormy waters of a world characterized by the fourth industrial evolution. First, pentecostals have a rich history of being creative and entrepreneurial in the religious realm, and so pentecostal schools have the potential to inspire their students to become entrepreneurs in all areas of society. Second, besides technological knowledge, the working environment of the fourth industrial revolution also requires people to have strong social skills; here pentecostal colleges and universities have a contribution to make as they foster collaboration, teamwork, and service orientation among their diverse student body.

Third, in an age in which technologies like genetic engineering and artificial intelligence will advance rapidly, there is a need to prepare students to make sound ethical decisions and value judgments––something pentecostals will be able to do by standing on the solid foundation of historical Christian ethics while also discerning the work of the Spirit in the modern world and what it means to affirm the imago Dei in the twenty-first century. Finally, people in the fourth industrial revolution will not only be looking for work but also for meaning. Here pentecostal institutions of higher education will have a valuable contribution to make as they can foster an environment in which students can discover the kind of spirituality that will sustain them amidst the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution.

            The intersections between the fourth industrial revolution and pentecostal higher education are manifold and complex. More research will have to be done in order to deal with a variety of technological, ethical, theological, pedagogical, and organizational questions. These multifaceted and interdisciplinary conversations will have to take place in a climate of uncertainty because we simply do not know what the future holds. What seems to be certain, however, is that pentecostal colleges and universities need to wrestle with issues related to new developments like robotics and artificial intelligence. The time to engage with those issues is now because, especially for young people who are currently studying for their first degree, the future has already begun.