Tech companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, and touting the financial benefits of AI-powered technologies like robots, virtual assistants and augmented reality, Now, a new study reports that artificial intelligence could dramatically boost economic growth and productivity.

The Accenture report looked at 12 countries and found that AI — or technology that senses the environment, comprehends what's happening and takes action — could increase productivity by up to 40 percent in 2035.



The report also forecasts economic growth in the U.S. could increase from 2.6 percent to 4.6 percent over the same period with the adoption of AI technologies.



Among the countries that stand to make the largest gains in productivity from AI in 2035 are Sweden, Finland, the U.S. and Japan.



"The impact this has is that it automates a lot of the low-level tasks and gets them done with higher satisfaction," says Accenture's chief technology officer, Paul Daugherty. "It frees up employees to do things they get more satisfaction out of, which is solving more complex problems, and dealing with the more complex issues that arise in business."



The study looked at how AI is incorporated in a range of fields, from the hotel industry to finance. Daugherty says in one example, analysts studied assembly line workers at one of the largest global manufacturing companies who were equipped with augmented reality goggles.