A new report from the Tech Council reckons AI could be worth up to 5% of GDP by 2030

Generative AI could contribute between $45bn & $115bn annually to the Australian economy by 2030
That represents 2% to 5% of total economic output.
4 key sectors will benefit: healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and professional and financial services.
Barriers include technology capability, enterprise readiness, awareness & skills, and responsible AI

Using artificial intelligence (AI) in business could deliver up to $115 billion in economic value by 2030 according to a new report from Microsoft and the Tech Council of Australia (TCA).

The report, Australia’s Generative AI Opportunity, touts two key uses for business: improving existing industries and enabling the creation of new products and services.

But its impact depends on adoption levels, with the value of generative AI (GAI) to the economy ranging from $45 billion in a slow-paced adoption scenario, and $75 billion and $115 billion, for medium- and fast-paced adoption

Those figures represent between 2% and 5% of the Australian economy.

Tech Council CEO Kate Pounder said AI has the potential to be “a productivity shot in the arm” in a period of high inflation and low productivity growth.

“The report shows the enormous potential for generative AI to catalyse growth and innovation across a wide range of sectors, shaping a prosperous future for our nation,” she said.

“Making the most of this opportunity will require a collaborative effort across government and industry, particularly to upskill our workforce, provide regulatory clarity and drive uptake of responsible AI practices.”

The report argues that productivity gains from the automation of routine tasks, would be worth between $30 billion to $80 billion to the economy. The augmentation of tasks using GAI as a ‘copilot’ is predicted to deliver between $10 billion and $25 billion in value.

Automation and augmentation could take at its current level of capability could take on around 44% of lower level tasks the GAI report estimates, freeing up time for higher value-adding tasks and increased output quality.

New products and services created using GAI to create new jobs and businesses would contributing between $5 billion and $10 billion.

4 big industry winners

The report identifies four key sectors set to benefit from GAI: healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and professional and financial services, alongside potential use cases.

For example, reducing administrative tasks in healthcare would free up time for patient care. Using it to analyse data from wearable devices could deliver a move towards more proactive models of care by enabling earlier and scalable diagnoses.

The other findings, following consultations with industry, government and academia, include barriers that industry and government face in capitalising on GAI in four key areas: technology capability, enterprise readiness, awareness and skills, and responsible AI.

Also listed are strategic actions for both adopters and policymakers, including defining the opportunity and vision for GAI in Australia, assessing readiness, incentivising adoption and innovation, upskilling the workforce, and developing responsible AI governance frameworks.

The  Australia’s Generative AI Opportunity report is available here.