According to a new report from consulting firm McKinsey, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to become a game-changer across all industries. The technology has advanced and is now able to produce images and text, as well as perform other tasks that mimic what a human could do. The report suggests that the technology could add between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion to global GDP, which equates to around 2% to 4% of the whole GDP pie, that was more than $96 trillion in 2021, according to the World Bank. The study looked at 63 cases where the technology was used and concluded that the productivity boost it provides could be significant across all businesses. Although the report doesn’t mention how restaurants could specifically benefit, the use cases it identified for retailers apply just as much to the restaurant industry.
The report shows that generative AI could have an especially big impact on consumer research. The AI could provide restaurant owners with data on trends and create new concepts and menu items. Additionally, the AI could generate synthetic customers to test with. AI could also be put to work in the marketing department, creating copy and visuals and generally helping with brainstorming. McKinsey apparently believes that bots can do this job as well or better than human marketers.
Notably, McKinsey found that generative AI will be used primarily to support data and decision-making rather than physical labor. This means that food service workers may not be significantly affected. However, according to McKinsey, the restaurant industry is ripe for automation, as 70% of the work can already be automated, presumably by robots and other equipment. Adding generative AI to the mix could increase that number to 78%. McKinsey suggested that this can improve customer satisfaction, traffic, and brand loyalty. By using generative AI, the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry could add between $400 billion and $660 billion of value annually, which is around 1% to 2% of the sector’s overall global revenue. In contrast, teachers and workforce trainers were at the top of the list of professions that could be significantly impacted by generative AI, followed by business and legal professionals and STEM professionals.
