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Catherine Beard: BusinessNZ Advocacy Director on the Government's first AI strategy · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from Newstalk ZB Follow this
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  Speaker 2: The release of the government's first AI strategy outlines how
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  Speaker 2: the technology can be used to boost productivity. Science, Innovation
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  Speaker 2: and Technology Minister Doctor Shane Haletti says private industries that
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  Speaker 2: adoption of AI could boost New Zealand's GDP by seventy
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  Speaker 2: six billion dollars. So Katherine Bird is Business new Zealand's
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  Speaker 2: advocacy director and joins me right now, Good morning to you, Catherine,
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  Speaker 2: Good morning. So what do you reckon the government's thinking
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  Speaker 2: about AI.
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  Speaker 3: Look, I think it's really great to have a strategy released.
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  Speaker 3: You know, business wants to know how the government is
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  Speaker 3: going to treat it in terms of legislation, and when
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  Speaker 3: they get some clarity around that, that sort of gives
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  Speaker 3: them more confidence to invest in the technology.
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  Speaker 1: Really.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, we think it's a good approach. It's a
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  Speaker 3: reasonably light handed approach and it's you know, based on
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  Speaker 3: current legislation that we already have things like the Privacy Act,
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  Speaker 3: Consumer Rights and human rights so they will all continue
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  Speaker 3: to be in place and they are technology neutral, so
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  Speaker 3: they'll be sort of the guidelines.
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  Speaker 2: So it's important to have our regulatory ducks in a
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  Speaker 2: row before we plunge in. But some might be saying
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  Speaker 2: a hands off approach might be the best way to
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  Speaker 2: just let private industry do it. I mean some of
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  Speaker 2: them are already started.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Look, absolutely, there's a lot of businesses using AI currently.
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  Speaker 3: But I think business also wants to be doing it
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  Speaker 3: responsibly because you know, to successfully use the technology, you
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  Speaker 3: need to have consumer trust and we need to be
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  Speaker 3: looking after people's data and their privacy. So business will
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  Speaker 3: be completely up for that. But yeah, look, the productivity
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  Speaker 3: potential is fantastic.
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  Speaker 2: So who are already using AI? I understand large businesses
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  Speaker 2: have hoed in, but small businesses are a bit more reluctant.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that looks to be the case. So the material
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  Speaker 3: that they've released shows that our small businesses have a
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  Speaker 3: lower uptake than say Australian small business. So that is
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  Speaker 3: a bit of a concern because we don't want to
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  Speaker 3: get left behind and we are a country of small
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  Speaker 3: businesses and so to boost their productivity we do need
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  Speaker 3: them to really embrace it. So I think in the
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  Speaker 3: strategy there's some plans to you know, support small business
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  Speaker 3: on that kind of digital journey and we certainly welcome that.
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  Speaker 2: Is this seventy six billion dollar GDP hit? Was it
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  Speaker 2: an exaggeration or is that true?
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  Speaker 3: Looked? I think people are being quite blown away about
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  Speaker 3: the potential. And you know, one of the one of
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  Speaker 3: the companies in the material as an example is Halter,
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  Speaker 3: which is that fantastic new company that's doing you know cows. Yeah, yes, absolutely,
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  Speaker 3: so that's that's a really great example. You know, they
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  Speaker 3: use AI and that technology, they you know, getting rid
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  Speaker 3: of electric fences and apparently that's a billion dollar company
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  Speaker 3: already in its valuation, and it's I think it's only
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  Speaker 3: really been around for about five years. So you know,
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  Speaker 3: if New Zealand can like have the creativity and the
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  Speaker 3: innovation and use the technology to do that kind of business,
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  Speaker 3: then you know, a great a great future. True.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Now we could get a GDP boost, But what
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  Speaker 2: might it mean for employment numbers? Might we be making
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  Speaker 2: loads of money but have very few jobs?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, people are concerned about the job market. I think
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  Speaker 3: if we look at history and the introduction of new technology,
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  Speaker 3: there will be jobs destroyed, but there will also be
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  Speaker 3: jobs created. And we you know, often the jobs that
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  Speaker 3: are taken out of you know, with this new technology,
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  Speaker 3: are that sort of repetitive, dull, boring and sometimes dangerous jobs.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, we think people we'll be able to use that.
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  Speaker 3: People should embrace the technology, know how to use it
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  Speaker 3: and make it part of their you know why they're
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  Speaker 3: a great employee because they know how to use it
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  Speaker 3: and they can increase their productivity.
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  Speaker 2: Well, Catherine, here comes the future. Brace yourself. It's inevitable,
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  Speaker 2: as than I said, and I thank you for your
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  Speaker 2: time today, Catherine Beard, who's Business New Zealand's advocacy director.
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