In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing various aspects of our lives and changing the world in profound ways. From healthcare and transportation to finance and entertainment, AI is leaving its mark on almost every industry.
One of the firms championing this transformation, Google, has now uncovered an AI-powered opportunity that will create an estimated £118 billion economic value in the United Kingdom this year. The opportunity is contained in the 2023 Google’s Economic Impact Report written by Debbie Weinstein, Vice President of Google and Managing Director of Google UK and Ireland. Therein, he sets out the potential impact of AI on the UK’s economy.
In the report, Google highlighted how, under the right conditions, AI-powered innovation could create over £400 billion in economic value for the UK economy by 2030, which includes boosting productivity, making careers more accessible, unlocking access to skills and new social innovation fund to drive British innovation among others.
Google’s AI-powered Opportunity in the UK
Debbie Weinstein stated that the United Kingdom is poised to experience considerable productivity benefits because of new AI innovations. In general, AI could spare doctors, teachers, and other professionals approximately 700,000 hours of administrative work each year. The main causes of people leaving the health or education workforce and contributing to staff shortage issues are heavy workloads and long hours. AI may free up over £8 billion in public sector resources for other purposes and help mitigate some of the rising cost constraints in sectors like health and education.
He further stated that AI has the potential to accelerate the development of new assistive technology that might benefit over 1 million individuals with disabilities at work and contribute to an annual economic growth of over £30 billion. Approximately one in five people in the UK who are working-age now have a handicap, and individuals with disabilities are about a third less likely to be in work and economically active. These statistics are from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Additionally, another AI-powered opportunity is that AI might make it easier for everyone to acquire the digital skills required to thrive in the digital economy. Everyone might update their digital abilities more easily with the help of AI instructors and coding helpers, increasing UK output by more than £4.8 billion annually. Today, 35% of businesses claim that it is challenging to find employees with strong digital abilities, and 39% of unemployed people claim that their lack of these skills makes it difficult for them to get employment.
In all, Google added it is currently committed to the UK as the country has an enormous opportunity to continue its rich tradition of technology leadership. To ensure that everyone has the digital skills necessary to deliver tech-driven growth and opportunity to every region of the country, the government has set out its vision for the UK to be a global leader in AI, science, and technology. To assist everyone in the UK to realize their aspirations, both big and small, using sustainable, responsible, and impactful technology, Google is collaborating on AI-powered opportunity in the UK on this vision.
