How AI is Changing New Zealand’s Tech Sector
Artificial intelligence is growing at a frighteningly fast pace, spreading its influence and benefits into every single industry that we know of. Certain aspects and applications of it are already becoming commonplace in the mainstream of society and businesses. It is also becoming very lucrative. Take NVIDIA, for example, who by far is the market leader when it comes to developing the chips that are used in AI processing.
Their revenue has gone from just over $16 billion at the end of 2021 to just over $79 billion at the end of April 2024. And every sector is being influenced by the benefits and influence of AI, including the tech sector here in New Zealand. It is a country that has long influenced and welcomed technology and is a big fan of iGaming. And it’s easy to find a list of the best New Zealand online casinos if you know where to look.
How is it affecting New Zealand businesses?
Today we’re going to have a closer look at how AI has influenced the technology sector here in New Zealand. Well, what a lot of us expect from AI is to make our lives easier and to save time. And there is a lot of anticipation that when fully implemented, its sophistication will be able to reduce the time taken to do admin work that was done by humans over a much longer period of time.
And so a lot of employers, particularly within the technology sector, are going to have to try and wonder how else the skills that their employees have can be utilised within their operations should the implementation of AI make their previous position essentially redundant.
What are the financial benefits?
So we have already touched upon how lucrative the AI industry is at the moment and has been to certain businesses, such as NVIDIA, but what about the benefits when it comes to New Zealand? Well, experts have predicted that the market here in New Zealand is expected to exceed $200 million by next year.
Primarily, the benefits of technology are being felt in the industries of healthcare, finance, and transport. Likewise, there is a prediction that around 30% of all jobs across all industries in the country will be automated and replaced by AI; therefore, this poses a dilemma both for employers and also for the government.
Homegrown AI enterprises
There are also AI businesses that have been founded here in New Zealand, and their applications are also being used by fellow home-grown businesses. For example, one company that has established itself with a firm footing in the market is called Ambit, which is a platform that allows you to build a chatbot. It allows you to tailor the chatbot and its responses based upon your business’s industry, delivering a more personalised experience to the end user while at the same time getting the more specific answers that you’re after in order to respond to an inquiry or a lead in a more timely and professional manner.
The countries approach
As a country, New Zealand is very liberal and has welcomed AI with open arms, implementing it at all levels of both industry and society. It has worked hard on putting together a harmonious, safe, and productive AI ecosystem. Like many other countries, New Zealand has a forum in place to oversee the implementation of AI in New Zealand society. Although understandably so, one of the big concerns of the public in general is the effects that AI is going to have on jobs for citizens here in the country and what is going to happen to those whose jobs essentially get taken over by automation thanks to AI.
The priorities in 2024
Just a few days ago, all of the leaders from all of the technology giants in 2024 got together in order to try and establish what the priorities for the sector should be in the face of the overwhelming power of AI. They have agreed that the industry in general is at a critical point whereby a universal direction on generative AI needs to be decided. Some of the priorities that were raised in the following report include embracing cloud and off-site technology and how to manage the limited resources that the country has in place.
In Summary
Like a lot of developed nations, New Zealand is currently feeling the effects of an AI technology tsunami. Nobody could have predicted just how fast the advancement of AI would accelerate in just a few years, to the point where by the next year, nearly a third of all jobs in the country will be automated, therefore putting New Zealand citizens out of work. Leaving the government with some very difficult and major decisions to make as to what the best way forward is for the nation.
