Author: McKinsey & Company
Key Insights
Generative AI could significantly boost the global economy. It's estimated that generative AI could add between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually across various use cases. To put this in perspective, the entire GDP of the UK in 2021 was $3.1 trillion. This means generative AI could potentially add an amount larger than the entire economy of the UK to the global economy every year.
Generative AI could deliver most of its value in four areas: Customer operations, marketing and sales, software engineering, and R&D. These areas could benefit from AI's ability to interact with customers, generate creative content for marketing and sales, and draft computer code based on natural-language prompts, among other tasks.
Generative AI could have a significant impact across all industry sectors. Industries like banking, high tech, and life sciences could see the biggest impact as a percentage of their revenues from generative AI. For example, in the banking industry, the technology could deliver value equal to an additional $200 billion to $340 billion annually if fully implemented.
Generative AI could change the nature of work. It could augment the capabilities of individual workers by automating some of their activities. Current generative AI and other technologies have the potential to automate work activities that take up 60 to 70 percent of employees' time.
The pace of workforce transformation is likely to accelerate. With the potential for technical automation increasing, it's estimated that half of today's work activities could be automated between 2030 and 2060.
Generative AI could substantially increase labor productivity. However, this will require investments to support workers as they shift work activities or change jobs. If managed well, generative AI could contribute significantly to economic growth and support a more sustainable, inclusive world.
The era of generative AI is just beginning. While there's a lot of excitement around this technology and early pilots are promising, fully realizing the technology's benefits will take time. There are still considerable challenges to address, including managing the risks inherent in generative AI, determining what new skills and capabilities the workforce will need, and rethinking core business processes such as retraining and developing new skills.
In simpler terms, generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can create new content or ideas, and it has the potential to add a lot of value to the global economy. It could change the way we work by automating many tasks, and it could increase productivity. However, this will require support for workers who may need to learn new skills or change jobs. While there's a lot of excitement about the potential of generative AI, it's still early days, and there are many challenges to overcome.