We are 105th for economic complexity. And without our incredibly productive mining industry we would be even lower down the scale.

We don’t have a productivity problem… we have a lack of productive industries problem.

Knowledge diffusion could help improve productivity – Productivity Commission 2022, but we are 72nd for knowledge sharing. Meanwhile, mining pays for everything. Mining has always been a leader in innovation in Australia and leads the world.

We need more productive industries, and need to invest in those productive industries, not in housing. But that does not seem to be on the agenda this week.

Mining shows the way to deliver productivity in a sector, and has been doing so for many years. Automation — trucks, machinery, trains, software use — ML, AL, LLM AI, robotics and drones — used from exploration, through mining to ore delivery.

But there are other industries we can rebuild on.

Medtech & Bio-manufacturing, Functional Foods, Ag-Tech, Clean Energy, Advanced Manufacturing, Defence and Space Tech, and Creative industries.

Rebuilding an economy takes decades. And moving up from 105th in the world will take time. But we have a history of talking about growth and doing no growing.

We had Industry Growth centres. We have an Industry Growth Program.

But here is no growth. Just decline.

We sit alongside Botswana and Cote d’Ivoire.

Because we don’t take it seriously. The Productivity Roundtable is just political theatre.

Nothing will come from it to change either of the two pictures above.

Australia is unique. Small businesses represent 97% of all businesses. They all use software in some way. And every organisation has a range of activities and processes that software has helped to automate over the last 40 years.

We have surveyed and tracked adoption and use of technology across 400 business categories, of the 507 business categories in ANZSIC. A total of 50,000 surveys.

Of the top 50 Australian software developers, 47 have incorporated AI or ML into their solutions. No AI gap there.

So where in this software solution stack is the gap that LLM AI is trying to fill?

There is no gap.

Large-scale job replacement is not going to happen. But large-scale job enhancement is.

LLM AI cannot directly compete with the multiple incumbents – the software solutions that have spent years tailoring their solutions to real customer needs. For Finance, CRM, Business Management, Communication, HR, WH&S and Marketing.

LLM AI doesn’t replace the core software systems businesses have been using for years.

LLM AI is a job multiplier, amplifying what people can do and enabling them to deliver more value.

It’s especially valuable for roles like general managers, marketing, and sales.

These are the roles in a business that benefit from using a mix of internal knowledge and external business intelligence.

Business intelligence – queries, summaries, scenario simulation.

Sales/Marketing – content creation, lead generation, customer insight, customer support, but be careful how that customer support is created to ensure it matches what the customer really wants not just the efficiency of the sales department.

Internal collaboration – meeting summaries, document drafting, training, workflow assistance.

Some business categories are challenged more than others. Employment agencies, Call centres, Financial advisers, Legal services and Publishing for example.

Other categories have already managed disruption and change – Taxis, Postal services, Banks, Telecommunications, Hotels, Motels, Newsagents and Book retail, Clothing retail, Recorded Music, Video Hire, Advertising agencies and so on. So, what is the fuss about?

AI is not a threat. It is an opportunity.

So how can we use ALL software and automation tools to increase productivity in Australia AND increase the number of productive industries at the same time?

We need to “optimise” our existing productive industries. And “productise” our services.

Many of our service industries have knowledge and experience that can be translated into “products” for sale.

Intellectual “knowhow”. Methodology. Strategy. That can be defined, packaged and delivered with associated training and support.

If we add productised services to our existing productive industries, then we are well on the way out of our economic complexity malaise.

We have silos in government. Silos in academia. Silos in business. Eight states and territories. We are a country built on division that has to learn teamwork to rebuild and grow.

We do it in sport, we even win gold medals, but we are dreadful at collaboration and sharing across our economy.

We should listen to the Productivity Commission.

Knowledge diffusion is the first step in building economic complexity

The myREGION.au platform is a practical foundation for what a national knowledge diffusion engine should look like.

It delivers regular bi-monthly updates of innovation webinars and videos from 40 universities across Australia – rebrand.ly/MyRegion-Diffusion

Targeting health, defence, mining, enabling technologies, transport, energy and agriculture.

The Study Options for students, teachers and parents helps them choose a university that best matches study interest – rebrand.ly/MyRegion-Study

The same model can even be applied to the CARE Economy with a focus on effectiveness, best practice and efficiency rather than productivity.

We need to leverage what we have – our mineral wealth and intellectual wealth.

The internet is 24x7. We should use it.

We have everything we need to get the show on the road.

To act, not just generate more reports. Strategically. With purpose, direction, commitment.

Strategically. With purpose, direction, commitment.

And get the elephants in the room, working for us, rather than ignoring them.

Productivity roundtable? We really hope so.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.