$210 billion could be added to the Canadian economy through the use of AI: Google report

Google’s Economic Impact Report, released Tuesday, shows generative AI could add eight per cent of gross value to the country, while saving the average Canadian worker 100 hours a year.

“Although there’s been an incredible amount of innovation over the years, there’s never been such a systemic and seismic shift globally in the industry than the one we’re seeing right now with artificial intelligence,” Sabrina Geremia, vice pr

Google, which has labelled itself as an “AI first” company since 2015, has begun ramping up its AI investment product stream, including video editing software for creators and expanding its ChatGPT rival Bard into a suite of its products.

“Google is excited about the economic potential this new technology can offer Canadians and Canadian businesses, as well as the improvements to the country’s sustainability, productivity and quality of living,” Geremia wrote in the blog.

“We are just beginning to see what this next wave of technology is capable of and there is no country better positioned to embrace this new AI frontier.”

Geremia echoed previous comments from Sam Sebastian, vice-president and Canada country manager at Google Cloud, who called AI a “significant technological shift” for businesses that is “just getting started.”

A recent study from Toronto Metropolitan University found just four per cent of Canadian companies are using AI.

 

This article was reported by BNNBloomberg