The past decade witnessed the emergence of ground breaking technologies, from tablet computers and 4G mobile internet to advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). However, their impact on the economy remained surprisingly limited. Despite the adoption of new tech by innovative companies, many others failed to embrace these technologies, resulting in minimal efficiency gains. This demonstrated that technological advancements and improvements in living standards do not always progress in tandem.

Yet, proponents argue that generative AI will break this pattern. Since the internet's invention, no technology has captured the public's imagination quite like AI. Its user-friendly nature is evident in the swift adoption of ChatGPT, the renowned AI chatbot that garnered millions of users within days of its release. The potential for this innovation to enhance work across various industries is evident, from assisting doctors in diagnosing accurately to optimising software code for programmers. Some companies have already started integrating AI into their operations, with tech giants and traditional brick-and-mortar firms heavily investing in this transformative technology. 

The potential of AI is vast. However, for its benefits to permeate throughout the economy, it must extend beyond the most innovative companies. This process will take time. 

While some businesses embraced the internet in the early 1990s, it wasn't until the late 2000s that around two-thirds of American companies had websites!

Efforts by technology companies to make AI more accessible and affordable will have a greater impact on accelerating adoption, but in practice, most companies will naturally adopt AI as new AI-powered features are integrated into the software and services they already use.

This is when we'll see AI's ubiquitous integration into our everyday lives, just as we saw with the internet.