Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 5G connectivity have been identified as drivers of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR). AI and 5G, through emerging technologies such as blockchain, gene editing, Internet of Things sensors, nanotechnology, or 3D printing accelerate a blurring of boundaries between digital, biological, and physical spheres. In this editorial, we introduce the term boundary object, or boundary technology, that can help process more information (syntactic boundary) for enhanced learning (semantic boundary) and that can create a higher-level intelligence (pragmatic boundary). Boundary objects are also a means of representing, learning about, and transforming knowledge at a given boundary. We propose that crossing syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic boundaries is facilitated by three FIR phenomena (big data, machine learning, and AI). Each of these phenomena possesses a unique capability (processing, learning, and adaptation) to help communities learn about their differences and dependences. We also show how the six articles in this special issue are related to boundary and sphere challenges, and we provide an overview of directions for future research. All in all, marketing scholars should focus on enhancing their abilities in knowledge integration across boundaries to sustain their role as cutting-edge scientists.

人工智能（AI）和5G连接已被确定为所谓的第四次工业革命（FIR）的推动力。通过区块链，基因编辑，物联网传感器，纳米技术或3D打印等新兴技术，人工智能和5G加速了数字，生物和物理领域之间边界的模糊化。在这篇社论中，我们介绍了边界对象一词或边界技术，可以帮助处理更多信息（语法边界）以增强学习（语义边界），并可以创建更高级别的智能（语用边界）。边界对象也是在给定边界上表示，学习和转换知识的一种手段。我们建议通过三种FIR现象（大数据，机器学习和AI）来促进跨越语法，语义和语用边界。这些现象均具有独特的能力（处理，学习和适应），以帮助社区了解其差异和依赖性。我们还将展示本期特刊中的六篇文章与边界和领域挑战之间的关系，并为将来的研究方向提供概述。总而言之，