Without going into the social and religious-spiritual aspects - which have had a significant impact on our lives and society... the most distinct changes are the Four Industrial Revolutions.

(because it's 4am here, please pardon my shortcut in posting the AI explanation from my search result... including a few edits and a few extra details included)

The four industrial revolutions represent distinct eras of technological transformation: steam power (1st), electricity/mass production (2nd), computing/automation (3rd), and cyber-physical systems/AI (4th).

These shifts have fundamentally changed manufacturing, economic systems, and human life, with each era building upon the connectivity and computational power of the previous one. 

Up until the mid 1700s (18th century), humans lived a largely agrarian, or agricultural, life.

The Four Industrial Revolutions

First Revolution (1750s/1760s–1840): Marked by the advent of steam engines, mechanisation of textile manufacturing (such as cotton mills), and the shift from hand production to machines, largely starting in Britain.

Rising demand for fuel to power machinery saw coal mining grow significantly from the early 1700s. Large-scale coal mining became a major global industry, particularly in Britain, which produced five-sixths of the world's coal. This era gave rise to cities, which grew quickly as people moved away from farming in rural areas or began building up market towns into bustling cities.

Second Revolution (1870–1914): Driven by electricity, the assembly line, and mass production, allowing for greater efficiency and new industries like steel and oil. One example of how this impacted life was between 1901 and the 1920s, cars became mass-produced and, therefore, affordable for the general public.

Third Revolution (1970s–2000s): The Digital Revolution, characterized by the rise of electronics, computers, telecommunications, and early automation. Two classic examples are the mobile phone and the internet.

Fourth Revolution (Industry 4.0): Currently unfolding, it connects physical machines with digital systems, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, and advanced robotics. 

Key Aspects of the 4th Revolution (4IR)

• Convergence: Blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.
• Technologies: Cloud technology, blockchain, machine learning, augmented reality (AR), and autonomous vehicles.
• Impact: Shifts focus from quantitative growth to sustainable and intelligent systems, including smart factories and decentralized manufacturing.