Mohamad Ariff (centre) launching The 10th UUM International Legal Conference 2019 (UUMIL). With him are deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Innovation) UUM Prof Dr Ayoib Che Ahmad (left) and Dean of the School of Law UUM College of Law, Government and International Studies Dr Rohana Abdul Rahman. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof said the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) will affect all disciplines of law, economics and countless industries as a whole.
He said IR 4.0 could be characterised as a fusion of new, powerful technologies, which blurs the lines between the physical, digital and biological world.
“With the looming uncertainty of this forthcoming industrial revolution, the unprecedented speed of transition would incontestably trigger high opportunities and expectations, but at the same time devise apprehension and uneasiness.
“I think we need to look quite closely at the law, how it’s going to impact the lawyers at large. Maybe lawyers will become redundant. Everything can be done through smart intelligence robotics and so on so forth,” he said in his speech at the 10th International Legal Conference 2019 themed ‘Law, Government and Society: Addressing the challenges of IR4.0’ at the Parliament here yesterday.
The two-day conference organised by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) provides a platform for the intellectuals from various fields and disciplines in law to debate and discuss all aspects of laws with special emphasis on issues of legal diversity.
In addition, he said advanced technology has divorced productivity from labour.
“Advancements that consequently mean that we are achieving the targets by a significant margin, but with fewer workers.
“It is evident in the era of technology the demand for low-skill labourers have decreased while the highly educated workers are paid higher and are in demand, causing an upsurge in inequality,” he added. — Bernama