AI Could Add $15Tr to Global Economy by 2030

Artificial intelligence might not be so threatening after all.

Amid warnings of the economic disruption that robots and automation could unleash on the world economy as traditional roles disappear, researchers are finding that new technologies will help fuel global growth as productivity and consumption soar.

AI will contribute as much as $15.7tr to the world economy by 2030, according to a recent PwC report. That’s more than the current combined output of China and India.

Gains would be split between $6.6tr from increased productivity as businesses automate processes and augment their labor forces with new AI technology, and $9.1tr from consumption side-effects as shoppers snap up personalized and higher-quality goods, according to the report.

“The mindset today is man versus machine,” said Anand Rao, an AI researcher at PwC. “What we see as the future is man and machine together can be better than the human.”

Global GDP, which stood at about $74tr in 2015, will be 14 percent higher in 2030 as a result of AI, according to PwC’s projections.