How AI can shape our future?

Fresh from the Property Council conference in Tāhuna, Queenstown, Baseline Group Associate and Business Development Manager Mike Vincent reflects on the challenges facing New Zealand, and the opportunities that current technology presents.

New Zealand is at a crossroads. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a buzzword, it is here, it is powerful, and embracing it could set our country on a path to maintain, or even improve, our standard of living.

In the past three years, AI has advanced at a pace that even the most optimistic experts failed to predict. Progress once thought to be five or ten years away is already here and being used in workplaces and households around the world. In the investment in this technology is exponential and the environmental credentials, whilst challenging at present, are improving at a rapid rate. Experts are clear: the world has entered an era of mass intelligence, where powerful and sophisticated tools are not only highly capable but increasingly affordable and accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

So, what challenges and opportunities does this create for New Zealand?

From a business perspective, AI is an opportunity to boost productivity. We work longer hours than most developed nations, yet we produce less. There is no doubt that AI, with human oversight, offers efficiency gains that could lift our output and help us catch up with, or even compete against, early adopters overseas. For New Zealand to stay competitive and protect our living standards, businesses, government agencies, and professionals must start using these tools effectively, and quickly.

Adding to the urgency is a demographic reality we cannot ignore: New Zealand’s population is ageing rapidly. The ratio of working-age people to retirees is shrinking, reducing the tax base and placing huge pressure on health, aged care, and other essential services. Can technology help fill this gap, by automating repetitive tasks, streamlining decisions, and allowing human workers to focus on what matters most: empathy, judgment, and creativity?

At the same time, we are on the verge of the largest wealth transfer in our history. Over the next two decades, $1.2 trillion will pass from the baby boomer generation to their children and grandchildren. For the first time, women and daughters will inherit at scale, with their values shaping society, treating sustainability as essential rather than an optional ad-on, and driving greater emphasis on balanced governance and social justice. AI can empower this shift, enabling inheritance to become functional, values-driven investment, transforming the economy, the property market, and long-term investment strategies.

So, at this critical crossroads, the question is clear: can New Zealand, a nation that has always prided itself on ingenuity and adaptability, bring that spirit to bear in the age of AI? Can we harness and embrace this technology to build a stronger, more prosperous future, for all its citizens, while retaining those core human values of empathy, judgement and creativity?