A new report says Australia is poised to unlock tens of billions of dollars in economic value by 2030 if it accelerates the responsible adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GAI).

The report, Australia’s Generative AI Opportunity, is a collaboration between Microsoft and the Tech Council of Australia.

It shows that GAI could contribute as much as $115 billion a year to Australia’s economy by 2030 through two major channels: improving existing industries and enabling the creation of new products and services.

Kate Pounder, CEO of the Tech Council, said the report highlights the far-reaching potential of GAI across Australia’s economy.

“In this time of high inflation and low productivity growth, our economy needs a productivity shot in the arm,” Pounder said.

“Emerging technologies like generative AI are going to be a big part of the solution.”

“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.”

“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 estimates that in the slow-paced adoption scenario, GAI could contribute $45 billion annually to the Australian economy by 2030.

Modelling of the medium- and fast-paced adoption scenarios show that this figure could rise to $75 billion and $115 billion, respectively. This range is equivalent to 2 to 5 per cent of the Australian economy.

Most of these gains ($30 billion to $80 billion) would result from increases in workforce productivity through the automation of routine tasks, according to the report.

The augmentation of tasks using GAI as a ‘copilot’ is expected to deliver between $10 billion and $25 billion in economic value.

On average, GAI has the potential to automate and augment 44 per cent of Australian workers’ task hours at its current level of capability. This would enable workers to focus their time on higher value-adding tasks and increase the quality of their output.

The report also estimates that new products and services created using GAI will power new jobs and businesses, collectively contributing between $5 billion and $10 billion to Australia’s economy.

“However, Australia must ensure swift and responsible adoption of generative AI to fully capture the depth and breadth of this opportunity.”

The report identifies four key sectors of the Australian economy that are poised to benefit from GAI: healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and professional and financial services.

It details potential use cases for GAI in each of these sectors as well as the subsequent economic value that could be generated using this technology.

Lee Hickin, chief technology officer at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand, said: “We’re proud to partner with the Tech Council on this timely report. Generative AI has emerged as a transformational technology in 2023, with its adoption growing rapidly across various sectors in Australia.

“Microsoft is committed to fostering closer collaboration between industry and government to ensure the nation can realise the potential economic benefits of generative AI, and do so responsibly. Building trust in this technology is critical to harnessing its innovative capabilities and enabling Australia to become a global leader in this space.”

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