AI business value to top $1tn in 2018 - Gartner

Analysts says artificial intelligence will be worth $1.2tn to businesses this year, as enterprises seek niche solutions

Artificial intelligence will be worth $1.2tn (£860bn) to enterprises in 2018, according to Gartner.

The analyst claimed that the value provided by AI to businesses this year will increase 70 per cent on last year's figure and will continue to grow over the next four years.

Gartner research director John-David Lovelock said AI "promises to be the most disruptive class of technologies during the next 10 years", adding that end users will be looking to spend money on AI to address specific issues.

"One of the biggest aggregate sources for AI-enhanced products and services acquired by enterprises between 2017 and 2022 will be niche solutions that address one need very well," he added.

"Business executives will drive investment in these products, sourced from thousands of narrowly focused, specialist suppliers with specific AI-enhanced applications."

Gartner says that an increase in business growth derived from AI will be driven by three main factors.

Organisations will see an increase in revenue from existing products and services as a result of utilising AI, Gartner said, and will also uncover new opportunities after implementing an AI strategy. The costs of delivering solutions will also decrease as a result of using AI, the analyst said.

Gartner predicts that the biggest driver of business value, however, will come from an improvement in customers' experiences - with businesses utilising AI capabilities to improve client interaction and retention.

It picked out "virtual agents" - which can handle basic customer queries for an organisation - as an example of these improvements. In 2018 it expects virtual agents to account for 46 per cent of the overall business value provided by AI.

Smart products contain the most common type of AI in the market, usually in the form of cloud systems that integrate data about the user's preferences from multiple interactions. This allows for a customised experience for the user. Smart products account for 18 per cent of global AI-derived business value in 2018, but it is predicted that this will fall to 14 per cent by 2022.

AI value growth will however slow after 2018, the analyst said, with the AI value seen by businesses expected to be $1.9tn in 2019 and $2.6tn in 2020.

The government today announced a £1bn investment in AI, which includes a contribution of just under £300m from 50 private tech firms.

The injection marks the "first phase of a major innovation-focused investment drive in AI", the government claimed.

Commenting on the announcement, Cisco's UK CTO Chintan Patel said: "Today's investment from the government is very encouraging to see as the UK looks to cement itself as a global digital leader.

"Such rapid development in [AI], promising so much for the future of business, means today's young people will be expected to work in jobs using this technology that don't actually exist yet.

"Collaboration between the government and education authorities will therefore prove crucial to making the most of AI, and will be essential in ensuring the UK remains a global digital hub.

"As artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent in our day-to-day lives, we must ensure this provides digital opportunity for everyone."