AI Cuts Operational Time and Costs, Mainly Benefiting Businesses

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the service economy by shortening task durations, accelerating completion rates, and reducing certain operational burdens across fields such as translation, content creation, design, and education. As AI adoption expands, there is growing interest in assessing its contribution to economic savings and identifying whether individuals or companies gain the most from these efficiencies.

A report titled "Global Economic and Financial Implications of Artificial Intelligence: Lessons from Scenario Planning," published by the International Monetary Fund in April 2026, states that AI has the potential to reshape the global economy. The report highlights that AI’s impact is linked to task automation and faster research and development, while the scale of its economic effects depends on the pace of its diffusion and how prepared economies and institutions are to integrate it.

Who Gains More: Individuals or Companies?

According to technology expert Sami Abdelnour, the benefits of AI vary between companies and individuals depending on the nature of use and the sector. He asserts that the primary beneficiaries of AI-driven savings are not individuals but rather companies, business owners, commercial enterprises, and professionals.

Abdelnour explains that from his perspective, AI has not lowered service costs for individuals. Services like translation and daily necessities remain priced similarly, but AI has reduced the time spent on research by gathering, analyzing, and interacting with users over existing information.

He adds that companies and small business owners have partially replaced some service providers—such as writers, translators, designers—as well as certain administrative and clerical roles, through AI adoption.

Professional service providers have also benefited from AI, either by using it directly or through their usual tools, which have lowered service prices due to the intense competition AI has introduced.

Is the Cost Reduction Sustainable?

Abdelnour considers this cost reduction to be unsustainable, attributing this to rising expenses related to infrastructure, manufacturing electronic chips, AI accelerators, memory components, and the increasing complexity of supply chains.

He notes that service prices are expected to rise gradually, but those increases will be accompanied by usage limits based on a credit system. Abdelnour points out that this model is already applied in several services today.

How Are Economic Savings Measured?

Economic savings are not evaluated by the number of tasks AI performs or the jobs it replaces, but rather by its ability to boost productivity and improve returns on resources, according to economic expert Abdulrahman Adel.

Adel clarifies that a decrease in the cost of performing certain tasks does not necessarily translate into tangible economic savings. Companies incur other expenses such as subscriptions, technical infrastructure development, system integration, training, and usage monitoring. These factors cause the economic impact to vary between companies depending on investment size and business nature.

He further explains that economic savings become more apparent when reflected in lower operating costs, enhanced competitiveness, or increased added value, rather than simply replacing tasks with AI tools. The effects of these savings on individuals remain limited across many services, while their impact is more pronounced among companies capable of leveraging AI to improve efficiency and productivity.