04 Jun 2026
The Second Industrial Revolution in 2040: Artificial Neural Networks and Global Socio-Economic Collapse
#AI
#NEURAL NETWORKS
#INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
#SOCIOECONOMIC COLLAPSE
#AUTOMATION
#LABOR MARKET
#INEQUALITY
#UBI
#GLOBAL SOUTH
#AGI
This paper argues that the convergence of large-scale artificial neural networks, autonomous agentic systems, and exponentially scaling compute by 2040 constitutes a civilisational inflection point structurally analogous - yet fundamentally more disruptive - than the First Industrial Revolution. Drawing on task-based macroeconomic models, Skill-Biased Technical Change (SBTC) theory, and empirical data from the IMF, OECD, Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey Global Institute, we demonstrate that current trajectories risk precipitating a global socio-economic collapse driven by unprecedented structural unemployment, catastrophic inequality amplification, and the dissolution of post-war social contracts.