With AI as the new factor of production, it can drive growth in at least three important ways:
First, it can create a new virtual workforce — what we call “intelligent automation.”
Second, AI can complement and enhance the skills and abilities of existing workforces and physical capital.
Third, like other previous technologies, AI can drive innovations in the economy. Over time, this becomes a catalyst for broad structural transformation as economies using AI not only do things differently, they will also do different things.
WHAT IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE?
Today, AI refers to multiple technologies that can be combined in different ways to:
Sense
Computer vision and audio processing, for example, are able to actively perceive the world around them by acquiring and processing images, sounds and speech. The use of facial recognition at border control kiosks is one practical example of how it can improve productivity.
Comprehend
Natural language processing and inference engines can enable AI systems to analyze and understand the information collected. This technology is used to power the language translation feature of search engine results.
Act
An AI system can take action through technologies such as expert systems and inference engines, or undertake actions in the physical world. Auto-pilotfeatures and assisted braking capabilities in cars are examples of this.
All three capabilities are underpinned by the ability to learn from experience and adapt over time. AI already exists to some degree in many industries but the extent to which it is becoming part of our daily lives is set to grow fast.
Often people only think of AI as boosting growth by substituting humans, but actually huge value is going to come from the new goods, services and innovations AI will enable.