The UK economy could have more to gain from generative artificial intelligence (AI) than any other advanced nation, new research has found.
The opportunity to boost productivity is greatest in the public sector, where a doctor could save up to five working hours a week, according to estimates by consultancy giant Accenture.
The research found that action would need to be taken now for generative AI, which is a more advanced form of automation, to have the greatest effect.
The technology could almost double the UK’s economic growth over the next 15 years, and see a bigger impact than any other country in the group of seven advanced economies (G7), including the US.
Average annual gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023 to 2038 could rise from 1.6% to 3%, according to Accenture’s forecasting.
There is an enormous opportunity to address longstanding productivity stagnation in the UK through an ambitious roll-out of generative AI
Shaheen Sayed, Accenture
Accenture said it analysed tens of thousands of detailed tasks and estimated the total time that could be saved from automation, or augmentation which supports human tasks with technology.
For the GDP modelling, it said it analysed the impact if people reallocated time freed up towards tasks that are less prone to using AI.
Shaheen Sayed, head of Accenture in the UK, Ireland and Africa, said: “There is an enormous opportunity to address longstanding productivity stagnation in the UK through an ambitious roll-out of generative AI, but organisations already risk falling behind with a short-term view of the power of this technology.”
Generative AI is a more advanced form of automation whereby machines can create something completely new based on a vast set of data.
The research stressed that the technology is most valuable if it is “people-centric”, meaning it automates routine tasks and preserves workers’ time for jobs that require a “human touch”, therefore freeing up time for innovation.
Modelling suggested that the average worker could save 18% of their working hours spent on routine activities, with a doctor saving five hours a week and a commercial sales representative shaving 12 hours off their working week.
It also estimated that nearly half of working hours in the UK public sector, excluding healthcare, could be enhanced by generative AI.
“Technology alone won’t transform the economy and drive growth, it’ll come from the hands of the people that you put it in,” Ms Sayed said.
The findings come after the Government earlier this week announced that four US firms plan to invest £6.3 billion in data centre infrastructure in the UK.
The investment is expected to support growing global demand for computing capabilities to power AI, and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle called it a “vote of confidence” in the country.
