CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS FOR THE MODERN ECONOMY

This article provides an analysis of the potential opportunities and threats for modern civilizations and the economy, due to cyber-physical systems and artificial intelligence. Based on research papers that describe the evolution of cyber-physical systems and artificial intelligence, it is analyzed to identify the underlying forces driving these evolutions and the potential opportunities created by these new technologies, as well as the most serious threats posed by them. Particular attention is paid to the fusion of operational and information technologies, as well as the corresponding cyber-physical systems in critical infrastructure, in industrial plants and in unmanned aerial vehicles. For Cyber-Physical Systems in Critical Infrastructure and Industrial Plants, we find the chances defining evolution mainly in improving performance and improving efficiency and ease of use in existing markets. For unmanned aerial vehicles, the corresponding chances are mainly for new areas of application, in markets that were previously available only with a high risk to human life and health. For threats, an attempt is made to assess the size of threats from previous events and the potential for these threats to be realized from what is necessary to implement and what is readily available in terms of hardware, software, and technical knowledge. The threats to both areas are mainly cyber terrorism and cyber warfare.