AI could contribute €148bn to Ireland’s annual GDP by 2038, a new report has claimed.

According to the report by Accenture, Ireland is ideally positioned to become a global leader in the Generative AI.

The report, Generating Growth: How generative AI can power Ireland’s reinvention, also revealed a potential double-digit productivity uplift across the private and public sectors.

It suggests the use of AI could boost productivity in sectors such as life sciences and financial services by approximately 20% and 30%, respectively.  

Savings from fully harnessing AI could amount to €22.2bn if the full technology is used to automate and augment.  

The report suggests the public sector stands to benefit the most, with gen AI capable of enhancing 42% of working hours in the Irish public sector although healthcare is excluded.

The authors of the report say this could deliver a productivity boost of up to 18%, translating into annual savings of €2.9bn. 

Hilary O’Meara, pictured above, Country Managing Director, Accenture in Ireland, said: “Ireland stands at a pivotal moment in its AI journey, with the potential to add €148bn to annual GDP by 2038.

"Achieving this potential, however, will require collective action from the full ecosystem - government, business, and academia - to build an AI-skilled workforce and foster responsible innovation.  

"Given the remarkable pace at which gen AI is advancing and the size of the opportunity, we need to move quickly.

"Establishing a robust digital core, preparing the workforce and fostering a culture of continuous learning are essential and should be underscored by responsible principles to ensure data privacy, transparency, and fairness remain central in all implementations.

"There is enormous opportunity here and by acting with urgency, Ireland can position itself at the forefront of AI-driven innovation and growth.”  

The report also forecasted the impact on how we work could be significant.

In Ireland, seven in 10 workers could have at least a third of their working hours enabled by the technology, either through automation or augmentation.

On average, this could save employees 17% of the time they currently spend on routine tasks. 

The report says allowing workers to perform higher-value tasks- 'rather than simply automating existing processes - €96 billion in economic value could be left untapped by 2038.' 

However, the report also identifies three factors which need to be overcome including: 

              Deployment gap: Among those that have invested in the technology, 91% have yet to scale its use across their business. One in three organisations believe their cloud capabilities are insufficient to leverage gen AI, highlighting the need to accelerate the modernisation of their technological foundations.  

              Skills gap: Despite the significant impact leaders expect gen AI to have on skills, the executives surveyed said that 64% of their workforces still require reskilling, equivalent to roughly 1.76 million people. Alarmingly, less than half (45%) of Irish executives report that their workforces are confident in their digital skills to leverage this technology. 

             Trust gap:  Trust that government (38%) or business leaders (45%) will make the right decisions to ensure gen AI has a positive impact on Ireland continues to lag, but there is a clear opportunity to close that gap. The report says by investment in upskilling, government and businesses have a vast opportunity to build trust and understanding about the potential gains. 

The report recommends businesses need to take a number of steps to take advantage of AI including: integrate AI across the business,  invest in technology that allows for continuous creation of new capabilities, prepare workers for a gen AI world, design, deploy and use AI to drive value while mitigating risks and make the ability to change a core part of company culture.

Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said: “This report from Accenture is a timely and useful resource for business leaders in taking practical action and building trust in the responsible deployment of AI. 

"The refresh of Ireland’s National AI Strategy published recently sets out our ambition to seize the opportunity of AI for our collective good.  

"We must keep evolving with technology, transforming how we do things and raising our productivity, in both our homegrown companies and foreign multinationals.

"That’s why we have targeted supports for adopting AI, for upskilling, training and research to ensure that businesses can be agile and ready to gain from this fast-moving technology.”