Hamish Mcrae: Embracing Our AI Future is Crucial for Economic Growth
By Hamish Mcrae | Updated: 21:50 BST, 30 September 2023
Gordon Brown recently highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to save us from a decade of low growth, and I couldn’t agree more. In a Bloomberg interview, he emphasized that AI has the power to revolutionize a wide range of industries, from accountancy and law to medicine and education. I believe he’s spot-on in identifying the need to boost productivity and improve service quality across these sectors and beyond.
In our daily lives, we often experience frustrations when dealing with service providers, whether it’s our banks or tax authorities, rather than grappling with malfunctioning household appliances. It’s paramount to differentiate between the noise surrounding generative AI and the true signals of its potential impact.
In recent days, three developments have caught my attention:
Firstly, the news of Sir Jony Ive’s collaboration with Masayoshi Son and OpenAI to create an “iPhone of artificial intelligence.” Sir Jony, renowned for his design work at Apple, played a crucial role in the creation of the iPhone. Meanwhile, Masayoshi Son, involved with SoftBank and Arm, has significant influence in the chip design industry. OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model capable of generating human-like responses, is another key player in this partnership.
The second development is a study by Capital Economics that ranks countries based on their AI potential. The US takes the top spot, followed by Singapore. Interestingly, Singapore is becoming a focal point for investment in the East Asia time zone due to the turmoil in mainland China and Hong Kong. The UK comes in third, ahead of Switzerland and Sweden. This can be attributed to our knack for applying new technologies to drive commercial outcomes, as seen in our thriving e-commerce market and extensive service sector, making us the second-largest exporter of services globally.
The third development worth mentioning is the UK Government’s plan to host an AI Safety Summit in November. As with any technological advancement, there are potential risks to consider, not just the impact on jobs but also the well-being of society as a whole. Effective regulation that balances innovation and safeguards societal interests is crucial, and the UK’s departure from the EU may provide an opportunity to establish sound regulations based on past mistakes.
Given the early stage of this AI revolution, the precise details of its development remain uncertain. Much like how Steve Jobs understood the game-changing potential of the iPhone without foreseeing app stores or the selfie phenomenon, we can’t predict every aspect of AI’s evolution. However, it’s clear that embracing AI is crucial for our economic growth and future prosperity.
Aside from the overall benefits of economic expansion, there will be ample investment opportunities arising from this AI revolution. While some AI platform and device creators will undoubtedly thrive, the ultimate winners are likely to be those companies that effectively leverage these emerging technologies.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
