Chiles Robert M, Broad Garrett, Gagnon Mark, Negowetti Nicole, Glenna Leland, Griffin Megan A M, Tami-Barrera Lina, Baker Siena, Beck Kelly
Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, Department of Food Science, Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State University, University Park, USA.
Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, Penn State University, Armsby Bldg, University Park, PA 16801 USA.
Agric Human Values. 2021;38(4):943-961. doi: 10.1007/s10460-021-10237-7. Epub 2021 Aug 24.
The emergence of the "4th Industrial Revolution," i.e. the convergence of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, advanced materials, and bioengineering technologies, could accelerate socioeconomic insecurities and anxieties or provide beneficial alternatives to the status quo. In the post-Covid-19 era, the entities that are best positioned to capitalize on these innovations are large firms, which use digital platforms and big data to orchestrate vast ecosystems of users and extract market share across industry sectors. Nonetheless, these technologies also have the potential to democratize ownership, broaden political-economic participation, and reduce environmental harms. We articulate the potential sociotechnical pathways in this high-stakes crossroads by analyzing cellular agriculture, an exemplary 4th Industrial Revolution technology that synergizes computer science, biopharma, tissue engineering, and food science to grow cultured meat, dairy, and egg products from cultured cells and/or genetically modified yeast. Our exploration of this space involved multi-sited ethnographic research in both (a) the cellular agriculture community and (b) alternative economic organizations devoted to open source licensing, member-owned cooperatives, social financing, and platform business models. Upon discussing how these latter approaches could potentially facilitate alternative sociotechnical pathways in cellular agriculture, we reflect upon the broader implications of this work with respect to the 4th Industrial Revolution and the enduring need for public policy reform.
“第四次工业革命”的出现,即人工智能、物联网、先进材料和生物工程技术的融合,可能会加剧社会经济的不安全感和焦虑情绪,也可能为现状提供有益的替代方案。在后新冠疫情时代,最有能力利用这些创新的实体是大公司,它们利用数字平台和大数据来构建庞大的用户生态系统,并在各行业领域抢占市场份额。尽管如此,这些技术也有潜力实现所有权民主化、扩大政治经济参与度并减少环境危害。我们通过分析细胞农业来阐明在这个高风险十字路口可能存在的社会技术路径,细胞农业是第四次工业革命的一项典型技术,它将计算机科学、生物制药、组织工程和食品科学相结合,利用培养细胞和/或转基因酵母来生产人造肉、乳制品和蛋类产品。我们对这一领域的探索涉及在以下两个方面进行多地点的人种志研究:(a)细胞农业社区;(b)致力于开源许可、成员所有的合作社、社会融资和平台商业模式的另类经济组织。在讨论这些后一种方法如何可能促进细胞农业中另类社会技术路径的发展之后,我们思考了这项工作对第四次工业革命的更广泛影响以及公共政策改革的长期必要性。
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