The Productivity Impetus from Generative AI artwork
Productivity Puzzles

The Productivity Impetus from Generative AI

  • S4E11
  • 50:10
  • July 30th 2026

Generative AI has moved from curiosity to everyday tool with remarkable speed. But the big productivity question is not simply whether people are using it; it is whether firms, sectors and economies can turn that use into lasting productivity gains.

This episode of Productivity Puzzles explores the challenges and opportunities that Generative AI presents, centring on a new article just published in the International Productivity Monitor, the joint journal of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards and The Productivity Institute.

Host Professor Bart van Ark is joined by:

  • Martin Baily, Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Brookings Institution
  • Diane Coyle, Bennett Professor of Public Policy and Research Director, Bennett School of Public Policy, University of Cambridge

For more information on the topic:

About Productivity Puzzles:

Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research body involving nine academic institutions across the UK, nine Productivity Forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Productivity Puzzles

Join Bart van Ark, Professor of Productivity Studies at the University of Manchester, and the managing director of The Productivity Institute as he brings you discussions with leading minds from the UK and abroad about how to improve productivity for almost everything: from health care to car manufacturing, at national and regional levels, for business and for your own personal productivity.


This podcast series investigates why UK productivity is lower than in many other countries and why are there such large differences in productivity across and within the regions and devolved nations. We’ll also get the best insights from research on smart policies and effective business practices to increase productivity and find out how this will drive prosperity, wellbeing and inclusive sustainable growth.


Productivity Puzzles is brought to you by The Productivity Institute, a research project involving nine academic institutions across the UK, eight regional productivity forums throughout the nation, and a national independent Productivity Commission to advise policy makers at all levels of government. 

Find out more about at www.productivity.ac.uk

The Productivity Institute is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. To find out more, visit: https://esrc.ukri.org/about-us/strategy-and-priorities/productivity/