Something a bit different this week. Instead of a video essay, I wrote an op-ed for the New Zealand Herald.
The piece is called “We’re AI illiterate, and our economic growth is at stake” and it builds on the keynote I gave at the New Zealand Economic Forum last week. The argument is simple: there is a growing gap between what AI can do and what New Zealand businesses are actually using it for. Compared to many advanced economies, we remain largely AI illiterate.
But here’s the thing. New Zealand is small, agile, educated, and economically advanced. We can close that gap. Our play isn’t to build the biggest data centres or compete with Silicon Valley. It’s about how effectively we use the tools that already exist. And those tools are now broadly accessible for less than $40 a month or free.
I make the case that AI literacy is the most accessible and powerful economic lever we have right now. Several countries already treat it as national infrastructure. We need to do the same. And the biggest barrier isn’t the technology. It’s human resistance to change. That makes AI, at heart, a leadership challenge.
Read the full op-ed: on the New Zealand Herald (subscriber paywall), or the non-paywalled version here.
I’d genuinely love to hear what you think.
