Perfect time for businesses to bring in AI
The use of artificial intelligence could soon be part of our daily lives Banks ‘must step up’ to improve our financial wellbeing
Kiwi businesses need to get on board with artificial intelligence — despite mass adoption of the technology being years away. AI is expected to increase productivity and skilled workforce, according to a leading national report commissioned by the AI Forum New Zealand, to be released on May 2.
New Zealand AI Forum executive director Ben Reid says artificial intelligence could soon become part of our daily working lives in a similar way as the internet or electricity has.
“We’re looking at AI as a similar change to the advent of electricity or the advent of the internet,” Reid said.
“Both of those changes were transformational to the way that the economy and businesses operate.
“If AI adoption follows a similar pattern to those other major technologies, then it will be a similar number of years in terms of business uptake, so between 20 and 40 years for mass adoption of AI throughout all businesses and all society.”
AI and machine learning will be front and centre at the next PwC Herald Talks event in Auckland and Wellington.
Josh Comrie — co-founder and chief executive of chatbot developer firm Ambit — will lead the speaker lineup. Banks should be doing more to improve the financial health of New Zealanders, says the head of the Government’s money education arm.
Last week, ANZ released a report on the Financial Wellbeing of New Zealanders which showed Kiwis scoring an average of 59 points out of 100.
While that score was on par with research by the ANZ out of Australia, it was behind similar research in Norway where the population had an average score of 77 points and Ireland which scored an average of 64 points.
Diane Maxwell, the Retirement
Comrie will focus on the history and state of AI, the current uses of the technology, why it’s likely to change the world and how you can get started.
While AI and robots already exist in the New Zealand economy, particular in the rural sector, Reid says we will see a big take-off in AI within the next five years.
“AI is already here, I think we’re going to see a significantly accelerated uptake in the next three to five years,” Reid said.
Reid says we need to move away from the narrative of AI taking away jobs, to AI actually creating new jobs.
“Traditionally there’s been a lot of publications which do propose that AI’s going to create mass unemployment and mass job loss, but I think the research that we’ve found [shows this] is actually not the case,” Reid said.
Reid says historically every year tasks within a job get automated and a number of jobs do get displaced by technology, however, this opens the way for new jobs to be created.
“A example would be where airport check-in has been automated with the kiosk and yet there’s new jobs now where people basically help people to check in.” — staff reporter Commissioner and head of the Commission for Financial Capability, said the ANZ report reflected its own research that having financial wellbeing was not just about earning more money.
“It isn’t about having lots of cash. It’s about being able to take the family out. Having a car that doesn’t break down. It’s if you received an additional bill still being okay.”
The research found even those on a low income could have high financial wellbeing scores, while those on a high income had a range of scores.
Of those surveyed, 23 per cent had no worries, 40 per cent were doing okay, 24 per cent were getting by and 13 per cent were deemed to be struggling. Maxwell said it had invested resources into what it considered to be vulnerable New Zealanders.
She said one of the challenges with this group was self belief.
“We know from our work that some people have convinced themselves at the outset they can’t save.”
The report showed that people’s behaviour had a big impact on their wellbeing and the two biggest factors were saving and not going into debt to pay for everyday expenses.
For those struggling it might not be realistic to have some money left over to save but for those in the middle 64 per cent (those doing okay and getting by) it was important, she said.
“My message to banks is financial capability is not something to annex out in a separate programme, it should be part of the daily interaction with customers. Banks collectively can build the financial capability of New Zealand by making every mo- hembry@nzherald.co.nz shaw@nzherald.co.nz holly.ryan@nzherald.co.nz ment with customers count.”
Maxwell said while that might sound “naff” it was true.
“Banks collectively cover almost 100 per cent of the adult population in New Zealand. I would encourage them to take up the challenge.”
Asked what it would do with the findings of the research, ANZ’s head of retail and business banking Antonia Watson said it had already switched its advertising approach to a focus on helping people to get on top of their money.
— Tamsyn Parker