By David Taylor
Copyright abc
Artificial intelligence is set to become an integral part of the Australian economy, with tens of billions in benefits to be gained.
From robots to supercomputers, we are processing information faster than ever, and it is set to revolutionise the economy.
Across everything from the technology sector to education, health care, and professional services, AI promises to reshape commerce and industry.
“It’s the biggest gold rush possibly in the history of capitalism,” Scientia professor of artificial intelligence at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Toby Walsh, tells The Business.
The investment in AI has been so incredible and unrelenting that analysts believe there are trillions more dollars globally waiting to play a role in the rollout of AI over the coming decade.
Managing partner for IBM Consulting in Australia, David Ellis, says we have been given a glimpse into Australia’s future economy, “supported by digital workers”.
“Thousands and thousands and thousands of AI agents that are able to perform tasks that are going to take essentially end-to-end activities and do the work, do the heavy lifting,” Mr Ellis explains.
“If I want to change somebody’s reporting line, I go into something called Ask HR and I type it in.
“So, I will say I want to change Sarah’s reporting line from Sarah to Bruce, and it will go into those systems for me in the back end and it will tell me in a matter of seconds that that is now done.”
AI’s contribution to economic growth modelled
The Australian Finance Industry Association — the peak body for the financial sector — has modelled AI’s contribution to economic growth in the years ahead.
It found that “scaling”, or expanding, the use of AI — just in that industry — could add $16 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) over the next decade.
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s chief economist, Sarah Hunter, says there is no way to quantify, just yet, exactly how much artificial intelligence will add to economic growth in coming years.
“So we’re not really seeing its impact in the data just yet, but I’m not surprised by that,” Dr Hunter said in a recent public appearance.
That “powerful technology”, IBM says, will infiltrate just about every part of the economy over the next decade.
“Across the broader economy, I think that any business that has knowledge workers will see enormous benefit associated with AI,” IBM Consulting’s David Ellis argues.
Mr Ellis says knowledge workers — such as lawyers, consultants, or anybody who relies on experience or pattern recognition in their roles — would become more productive with AI than they were without it.
This also applies across sectors of the economy that rely, to a large extent, on pattern recognition.
“So medical sciences, healthcare more broadly,” he explains.
“We think about the education sector, how you can personally tailor learning for the individual based on their wants and needs.”
Australia is behind with more investment needed
But achieving what is possible, UNSW’s Toby Walsh says, needs more investment.
“We are somewhat lagging behind. We’re not seeing the investments that we’re seeing in other countries,” Professor Walsh argues.
“We’re not seeing the government make the sorts of commitments that we’re seeing in other countries.
Dan Ives, managing director and the senior equity research analyst covering the technology sector at Wedbush Securities, says he is hopeful the financial, as well as lifestyle, gains from AI will eventually filter down across all sectors of the economy, including households.
“But I believe it’s going to spread second, third, fourth derivatives.”
A widespread boost to productivity resulting from successful AI applications is something the Reserve Bank says it would welcome with open arms.
“That would be transformative and that would be fantastic for the economy and for the country,” the RBA’s Dr Hunter said recently.
“It will improve our living standards and just mean that we can make some choices about what we want to do and how we want to do it.
“So I think that that’s a really exciting frontier.”
For the moment, though, it seems Australia is not yet pushing the boundaries of that frontier.
