Spending on artificial intelligence (AI) systems is set to reach almost $5.5bn in Asia-Pacific (APAC) this year, increasing by nearly 80 per cent over 2018, as China invests heavily in the technology. By 2022, this is expected to increase to $15.06bn with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 50 per cent between 2018 and 2022, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

China is forecasted to account for nearly two-thirds of APAC, excluding Japan, regional spending on AI systems between 2018 and 2022. This will be led by spend in retail, professional services, and government industries.

The bulk of AI investment within the APAC region as a whole will be within the retail industry – where over 70 per cent of spend will be on solutions to address areas such as merchandising, expert shopping advisory & recommendations, automated customer service agents, and supply & logistics. Despite this, healthcare providers (60.2 per cent CAGR) and process manufacturing (60.1 per cent CAGR) are predicted to experience the fastest growth over the next few years.

Customer service agents are expected to see the most investment this year, reaching almost $700m. This use case will be followed an investment of over $450m in sales process and automation, and $350m in intelligent process automation. The fastest growth is predicted within pharmaceutical research and discovery, and digital twin/advanced digital simulation.

“Artificial Intelligence is changing the world as we speak,” said Swati Chatrvedi, senior market analyst at IDC Asia/Pacific. “In fact, Asia/Pacific is quickly driving the growth in adoption of artificial intelligence because of its fertile & nascent digital ecosystem. Countries are developing economically with the help of technological advancements, increasing talent pool of millennials and growing number of tech-savvy businesses, to stay in this competitive market.”