“Productivity in the age of artificial intelligence”

Emeritus Professor Roy Green AM FRSN
Special Innovation Adviser
University of Technology Sydney

Date: Tuesday, 17 November 2026, 12.15 for 12.30–2.00 pm AEDT
Venue: Union University and Schools Club, 25 Bent Street, Sydney (corner of Bent and Philip Streets)
Enquiries: by email to RSNSW Events 
Registration: Registration is required  before 2.00 pm AEST on Thursday, 12 November 2026
Cost: $75 (RSNSW or UUSC members); $85 (non-members/guests). A warm meal and wine will be served.
UUSC dress code: Business Dress. To avoid embarrassment, please note that a jacket and tie are required. Denim, trainers and shoes with white soles are not permitted. Attendees not dressed appropriately may be refused entry by the Club.
Flyer: Downloadable from this link.

Click here to register before
2.00 pm AEDT on Thursday, 12 November 2026

Productivity in the age of artificial intelligence

This series started as an exploration of the Future Made in Australia (FMiA) program that will see government funding of $22.7 billion over the next decade focused on two major streams: Net zero transformation; and Economic security and resilience.  Nothing could have greater relevance in the current geopolitical circumstances.  The topics covered this year have specifically focused on the techno-economic challenges that the FMiA faces, particularly in the light of the developments in the geopolitical situation around the world that have emerged this year.

Closer to home, productivity growth remains the most fundamental challenge for the Australian economy.  A lack of productivity growth constrains the rate at which the economy can grow, and that has profound economic consequences for the standard of living in the face of an ageing population and labour shortages.  In this talk, Roy Green, an internationally renowned expert in the field of productivity, will explore how Australia can benefit from the rapid advances being made in artificial intelligence (AI).

Productivity growth has underpinned the rise in living standards since the Industrial Revolution.  But productivity has stalled across advanced economies, nowhere more so than in Australia.  Does AI offer the prospect of reigniting productivity growth, without destroying humanity in the process? And if so, how? This talk is based on a recent report, Turning AI into Productivity, which argues that instead of trying to compete in the frontier model race, middle powers like Australia have a once-and-for-all chance to benefit from the application of AI to a range of industrial processes.  But such an outcome will not happen automatically.  It will require clever, well-coordinated national policy interventions

Roy Green is Emeritus Professor and Special Innovation Adviser at the University of Technology Sydney, where he was previously Dean of the UTS Business School.  He has undergraduate degrees from the University of Adelaide and a PhD in economics from the University of Cambridge.  Roy has pursued a career in universities, government, and industry and has published widely on innovation and productivity.  His most recent Routledge book (with Dr Phillip Toner) is Understanding Productivity, and a commissioned report (with Dr John Howard) is Turning AI into Productivity.  Currently, Roy chairs the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub and is on the boards of CSIRO, SmartSatCRC and the Industry Capability Network (ICN).  He is a Fellow of the RSNSW.

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