2nd Robotics and Automation Summit Held

IEEE Gebze Teknik Üniversitesi Student Club organized the Robotics and Automation Summit for the second time this year, welcoming industry leaders as speakers. The summit, held on 20 December at Gebze Teknik Üniversitesi Congress Centre, featured Hüseyin Halıcı, CEO of Halıcı Group, among its speakers. In his presentation titled "Digital Transformation, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0," Hüseyin Halıcı shared his knowledge and experience with students in the field of digital transformation and answered their questions.  

Hüseyin Halıcı began his presentation at the 2nd Robotics and Automation Summit by reaching back into humanity's past. In his speech spanning from hunter-gatherer and agricultural societies to industrial revolutions, Halıcı said:

"Life is developing very rapidly. For this reason, we actually do not need to know everything; what matters is our ability to learn something we do not know. You should be able to learn when necessary and use it as you wish in your professional and social life. Technology and science are essentially structures that humans created for human development, but with industry, we brought them to everyday life. Therefore, we are powerful. In the world, the strong survive and the weak are eliminated. Every development we experience today happens because of our intellect."  

"Humans triggered the fourth industrial revolution"

"Humanity could have remained in an agricultural society structure. We could have easily continued our lives, but we did not stop. Today we are progressing toward a more conscious structure," said Halıcı, emphasizing that developments such as industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0, robotization and artificial intelligence are natural processes experienced by humanity. Pointing out that steam energy was the trigger for the first industrial revolution and factories emerged, Tesla discovered alternating current in the second industrial revolution, and electronics were invented in the third industrial revolution, Halıcı indicated the greatest difference of Industry 4.0, saying: "Humans triggered the fourth industrial revolution."   Hüseyin Halıcı also emphasized that industry has changed our way of life and continued his presentation as follows: "As you know, unmanned factories are becoming a topic of discussion today. Concepts such as IoT, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 have emerged. But what is Industry 4.0? Listen, do not forget this: digital transformation without artificial intelligence is not Industry 4.0. That is automation. It existed in Industry 3.0 and we are still using it. Society 5.0 means digitalization not only in industry but in all areas of life. This provides flexibility, convenience and advantages. In the 1990s, an information society was created with the internet. But now a "super-conscious" society structure is emerging. In terms of intellect, we are not very different from humans a thousand years ago, but we are very different in our consciousness structure. That is why we are here today."

Noting that Industry 4.0 brings flexibility in production, Halıcı continued as follows:

"Everyone wants the products they use to be personalized. This brings flexibility in production. It should be independent of humans, it should be of high quality and most importantly, mental labor should take precedence over physical labor. A similar situation applies in Society 5.0. From environmental awareness to terrorism issues, we can advance the world to a very advanced point by using digitalization in every field. We are currently in a transition phase, and in the future we will see the advantages of this digitalization in every field."  

"Digital transformation without artificial intelligence is not possible"

"New professions will emerge, a new way of life will develop. Digital transformation will change your way of life. New working conditions will emerge along with new professions. This digitalization is one of the steps that will take us to a world we desire. Do you know what we want? We want to live happily. To achieve that, we must eliminate physical work. Because digital transformation is not an option, it is a necessity!"  

Humans will determine the world of the future, artificial intelligence will manage it

Responding to the question "Will we become unemployed when robots replace us?" - one of the common concerns of young people worldwide and middle-aged workers regarding robotization and artificial intelligence - Halıcı said: "Developed countries are trying to keep us away from digitalization. They do not want us to be a technology-focused society. Artificial intelligence does not have a problem replacing humans, since we design it. Artificial intelligence will replace not us, but the jobs we do. Nothing will replace life! Artificial intelligence is like a child; it grows as we educate it, and it will replace not humans, but the jobs humans do. Remember, humans will determine the world of the future, artificial intelligence will manage it."