Artificial Intelligence Statistics: Growth and Influence

Artificial intelligence — awesome or terrifying? For now, people’s opinions seem to be more or less divided.

A lot of media warn us about the pitfalls and downright dangers this technology could bring. We’ve all seen the movies and read the books that depict a disastrous future.

But what does the data say about AI? How pervasive is it in society today? What kind of growth awaits it? These artificial intelligence statistics will provide answers to these questions and many more.

So let’s dive right in, starting with the most interesting statistics about AI.

Most Important AI Statistics

1. The first AI was presented to the world in 1956.

When we hear it, the term AI conjures visions of fancy, futuristic worlds. But one of the less-discussed artificial intelligence engineering facts shows us how far into the past this technology goes.

Herbert Simon and Allen Newell crafted the Logic Theorist, the first recognized AI, in the mid-50s.

It was put to good use — it proved 38 mathematical theorems found in the book Principia Mathematica, doing it better than human mathematicians at the time.

2. In 1997, a machine beat a chess master for the first time in history.

The best AI fun facts are the ones that showcase the amazing capabilities of this technology. The intellectual prowess of AI became apparent in 1997.

That was the year when a computer called Deep Blue defeated the then-world chess champion in six matches.

Although the human player won the first match, the second one went in Deep Blue’s favor.

After a few subsequent draws, the showdown came to an end in the sixth match, wherein the AI secured a resounding victory.

3. 45% of organizations have a defined ethical charter for AI development.

Anyone even marginally familiar with AI understands that this tech has tremendous potential. But as the saying goes, great power comes with great responsibility.

The facts about artificial intelligence reveal that more and more companies are aware of this.

Namely, almost half of businesses that implement AI have a defined ethical charter outlining how to develop it. While far from the overwhelming majority, this is an 80% increase from 2019.

4. An AI was able to identify precancerous changes in the cervix 91% of the time.

Perhaps the most exciting use of artificial intelligence lies in healthcare. More precisely, AI’s ability to diagnose with great precision could be used to achieve amazing results.

According to AI healthcare statistics, some medical institutions are already putting this ability to good use.

Here’s an inspiring example — an AI algorithm has demonstrated that it can “foresee” cancer growth in the cervix with a 91% accuracy rate.

On the other hand, human experts can do the same with an accuracy rate of 69%.

5. There’s a robot that can “heal” itself after a 40-minute exposure to 176-degree heat. 

Here’s one of the more shocking AI facts — robots made of flexible parts were created for more delicate tasks, from handling food to surgery.

But some of these robots also have a peculiar healing ability. Apparently, robots from Vrije University have rubbery polymers that can regenerate after being exposed to 176-degree heat.

6. Nautilus was able to find Osama Bin Laden’s whereabouts within a 124-mile accuracy.

Nautilus definitely deserves a spot on this list of amazing facts about artificial intelligence. 

For those who don’t know, Nautilus is an AI that tries to predict the future based on articles given to it.

This idea may sound outlandish, but the fantastical became factual when the program managed to estimate the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden in a 124-mile area.

7. On Oct 4, 2016, Google CEO Sundar Pichai called AI a more important invention than fire or electricity.

Sundar Pichai was well-aware of the artificial intelligence stats and how this technology can change the world.

The extent to which it will do so is still beyond human knowledge, but the CEO considered this technology to be on par with history’s biggest inventions.

He voiced his opinion on this topic on October 4, 2016. He stated that AI was a more profound innovation than electricity and fire. In all likelihood, this claim is very true, but only time will tell.

8. In 1942, Isaac Asimov postulated the three basic laws of robotics.

One of the shocking statistics about artificial intelligence is that one of the most influential people in AI was a fiction writer that lived almost a century ago.

Renowned science fiction author Isaac Asimov could be considered a visionary in the field of AI. In fact, he postulated the three laws of robotics that served as a staple of the industry for decades to come.

For the curious among you, here are these three laws:

• “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
• A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
• A robot must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.”

Benefits of Artificial Intelligence

9. 37% of businesses report that increased AI use led to manufacturing cost cuts greater than ten percent.

AI can significantly streamline manufacturing by taking over monotonous tasks and optimizing the flow of labor and resources.

We can see proof of this in the statistics on artificial intelligence in manufacturing. About a third of companies have reported cost cuts greater than 10%, owing to leveraging AI technology.

10. 71% of organizations think AI is “a game-changer.”

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to realize that AI can radically change the way the world works. Whether AI is a good thing only statistics and the future can say, but there’s little denying that it will be a big deal.

This is why the vast majority of organizations can agree that AI will be a game-changer. With all this data on AI in mind, it’s easy to see why they would think that.

11. A median of 53% of people say that artificial intelligence has mostly done good things for society.

In light of so many worrying and interesting facts about artificial intelligence, it makes sense that the public has mixed feelings about AI.

But the good news is that the majority (however, not a vast one) appreciates the technology.

12. 85% of executives believe AI will give their companies a competitive advantage.

In today’s highly competitive professional world, getting an edge over the competition can make or break any business.

And as the statistics about AI indicate, most businesses consider artificial intelligence the ticket to success.

Namely, 85% of executives feel that AI can give them the advantage needed to rise above the competition. However, only 1 in 20 companies have widely introduced AI into their infrastructure.

13. AI technology increases the detection of cyber threats by 73%.

Recent applications have demonstrated that artificial intelligence is a great addition to cybersecurity. Its knack for detecting subtle patterns in network activity makes the detection of cyber threats faster and easier.

This is why AI cybersecurity statistics consider AI beneficial to cybersecurity. Threat detection becomes 73% quicker with the help of AI.

This makes the damage incurred by data breaches considerably more manageable.

14. AI could contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy.

It’s satisfying to show the potential benefits of AI by using raw numbers. The data and facts on artificial intelligence highlight a very neat statistic — AI can rake in an additional $15.7 trillion to the global economy.

15. AI cybersecurity can decrease the average cost of data breaches by $230,000.

It’s a well-known fact that data breaches are insanely costly, easily reaching millions of dollars of damage. Luckily, cybersecurity teams can leverage AI to lessen these costs significantly.

AI hacking statistics show us that adding AI to cyber threat detection can save a company $230,000 on average.

That significant amount of money is why so many security experts consider AI the next big thing in their profession.

16. Over 70% of cybersecurity experts agree that AI tools have made their cybersecurity teams more efficient.

When it comes to AI in the workforce, statistics reveal that cybersecurity benefits greatly from this tech.

The majority of cybersecurity experts (more than 70%) say their teams are better at detecting and suppressing cyber threats because of AI, in addition to eliminating over 55% of mundane tasks.

17. The AI developed by Google Health can identify signs of diabetic retinopathy from eye scans with a 90%+ accuracy.

Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that leads to damaged blood vessels in the eyes, potentially leading to blindness.

One of the issues that make this disorder so insidious is that it often doesn’t cause any symptoms, letting it escalate in severity without the sufferer noticing.

This is where AI medicine statistics come to the rescue. Google Health’s AI has shown that it can identify signs of diabetic retinopathy and provide a result in less than 10 minutes.

It can do so with an amazing 90% accuracy rate.

18. Netflix’s recommendation engine saves the company over $1 billion every year.

Netflix’s recommendation algorithm can be really accurate at assessing what content you might like based on the media you’ve already watched.

It uses that information to recommend shows that you, in all likelihood, will want to watch.

Thanks to this solution, Netflix’s AI stats show a profit of over $1 billion annually.

19. By 2022, chatbots will save $8 billion.

Chatbots are an amazing addition to customer services. Not only are they able to provide quick, pointed advice to customers, but they’re also available 24/7 — no pay or rest needed.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that statistics related to AI show massive savings for organizations that use chatbots.

By 2022, chatbots will likely save their users $8 billion. Moreover, further estimates reveal that each interaction with a chatbot saves $0.70. 

On the other hand, annual salary savings of $23 billion are also expected.

AI Influence Statistics

20. Over 60% of executives consider AI extremely important for their business.

Artificial intelligence can seriously disrupt almost every industry. Naturally, some businesses will benefit more from it, but the current uses of artificial intelligence can lead to better productivity in virtually any sector.

We can see this reflected in the way executives feel about AI. As the data suggests, approximately two-thirds of executives believe AI is pivotal to making their business work better.

21. 35% of executives said they need more AI-savvy workers.

AI is growing at an amazing pace. In fact, it’s becoming so popular that a lot of organizations struggle to keep up with it.

What does that mean? The statistics about artificial intelligence in the workplace indicate that around a third of execs think they need more labor skilled in automation.

This relatively high number results from the COVID-19 shutdowns that forced many businesses to use automation processes.

22. 29% of small companies are making use of AI technology.

Artificial intelligence in business is relatively widespread among small businesses (in this case, this means businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees).

Nearly 30% of these companies use AI technology in one way or another.

On the other hand, large businesses (those with more than 1,000 workers) are more likely to use AI. As the data claims, approximately 45% of them use AI solutions.

23. Vodafone has automated 66% of its consumer interaction.

Vodafone is one of many companies using artificial intelligence with great success. The company has automated 66% of the interaction with its consumer base.

It does this with the help of its chatbot TOBi which handles customers across 11 markets.

24. 36% of companies say the most important way of using AI is by providing data security.

For a lot of companies, artificial intelligence plays a vital role in data security. AI data recognition stats in this field show that a significant part of this sector uses AI for some important tasks.

Around a third of companies value their AI solutions and how they help keep their data safe.

25. Men comprise 71% of the applicant pool for AI jobs in the US.

Some interesting facts about AI highlight the gender gap in AI-related professions. Namely, 71% of people applying for AI jobs in the United States are men. Mind you — this applies explicitly to machine-learning jobs.

While other positions concerning robotics or deep learning are a bit more diverse, they’re similar in demographic proportions.

26. AI statistics reveal that AI-based drug discovery start-ups raised more than $1 billion in funding in 2018.

Discussions about artificial intelligence rarely veer in the direction of drug discovery. However,  AI tech stats reveal that this topic is steadily gaining recognition.

One of the stats that demonstrate these claims shows that startups dealing with AI-assisted drug discovery have raised a total of $1 billion in 2018.

27. The average salary of a machine learning engineer is around $143,000.

Given its popularity and complexity, AI can be a very fruitful point of professional focus for people. When it comes to AI jobs in the US, statistics show that a machine learning engineer’s average salary is $143,000.

28. AI was a part of roughly 75% of emerging trendsetter technologies in marketing in 2018.

 Artificial intelligence statistics make it clear that AI is a disruptive technology in marketing. When asked about the biggest trendsetting technologies, roughly 75% of the answers marketers have had something to do with AI.

Here’s a more precise account of people’s predictions about disruptive players in marketing. These are the answers to the question “In 2018, what do you see as “the next big trend” in marketing?”

• Consumer Personalization: 28.66%
• Artificial Intelligence: 25.69%
• Voice Search: 21.23%
• Mobile Optimization: 10.40%
• IoT Applications: 3.61%
• Blockchain: 3.40%
• VR: 2.76%
• ABM: 2.34%
• Other: 1.91%

29. Software makes up 40.9% of the AI market share.

A large part of the artificial intelligence industry revolves around software development. If we look at industry shares, we can see that software takes up a little over 40% of the sector.

Services and hardware make up almost all of the remaining share, with hardware being the smallest of the three markets.

30. 65% of organizations have been using or intend to use AI and machine learning to make better business decisions.

AI and analytics go together like peanut butter and jelly.

AI statistics show that 65% of organizations use AI and machine learning (or plan to do so) to improve their analytical capabilities, leading to more informed business decision-making.

31. 84% of executives believe they need AI for their business to grow successfully.

Looking at the available AI stats, most C-suits realize that they risk being left in the dirt if they don’t embrace AI. Around 85% of them understand this, saying that their business growth depends on using AI.

However, most C-suits also notice issues with effectively scaling their AI solutions. Just a bit over three-quarters of them have struggled to scale their AI capabilities in tandem with their businesses’ infrastructure.

32. 80% of banks are highly aware of AI’s potential benefits.

When it comes to artificial intelligence in the financial industry, the fact is that AI will become an indispensable tool in banking.

From task automation to chatbots and fraud detection systems, the perks are simply too numerous to ignore.

This has made banks keep up with AI innovations that they can use to their benefit.

33. Just 34% of people believe they’ve interacted with AI.

In popular culture, AI is a fantastic yet very overt technology. This is why so many people don’t understand just how pervasive AI is in our lives.

In fact, two-thirds of them will claim that they haven’t interacted with any artificial intelligence in their day-to-day routines.

However, AI statistics suggest that 84% of the public encounter AI programs. This information points to a misunderstanding of what AI is or what roles it currently occupies.

34. 36% of customers expect a response time of five seconds or less from chatbots.

Chatbots are convenient for both service providers and a consumer. Not only can they take a lot of work off the company’s hands, but they also provide lightning-quick help to people in need.

According to AI customer service statistics, a chatbot is so quick that almost half of all people expect it to reply to their queries within five seconds.

Interestingly, they also expect the same response time from human CS providers, which puts more pressure on a company to deploy chatbots to meet that expectation.

35. Venture capital for the 50 best-funded healthcare AI companies has reached $8.5 billion.

As we’ve already stated, the intersection between AI and medicine is perhaps the most exciting one. It’s no wonder that startups at that very intersection receive so much attention.

The stats on artificial intelligence in healthcare startups show that the 50 most-funded enterprises accumulated $8.5 billion in venture capital.

36. Nearly one in four sales teams makes use of AI.

A great deal of the sales process is suitable for automation. This is why sales teams are rolling out more and more AI solutions to smooth out any wrinkles along the funnel.

While it’s far from the majority, artificial intelligence data shows that a significant number of sales teams are getting cozy with AI. Around 25% of them regularly use this technology.

Artificial Intelligence Growth Stats

37. AI in the manufacturing market is expected to reach $16.7 billion by 2026.

AI factory stats forecast pretty astonishing growth in the coming years. At the moment, AI in the manufacturing market is worth around $1 billion. However, the projected CAGR growth for the next few years is 57.2%.

38. Worldwide spending on AI is predicted to reach $110 billion in 2024.

As more and more uses for AI crop up in the world, spending on technology keeps ramping up. This explains why worldwide spending on AI will be so massive in the near future.

The stats suggest that global spending on AI technology will reach $110 billion in 2024. This market’s worth of $50.1 billion in 2020 marks artificial intelligence growth of 20.1%.

39. Service-operations optimization has an AI adoption rate of 24%.

Service-operations optimization can save organizations a great deal of time and money. AI growth in this sector is, logically, very rapid. The adoption rate of AI here is 24%.

Other sectors with similarly high adoption rates are AI-based enhancements of products (24%), product-feature optimization (21%), and predictive service and interventions (19%).

40. The CAGR for the AI industry is projected to be 42.2% in 2027.

Artificial intelligence facts and statistics predict healthy growth in the period between 2020 and 2027.

In this timeframe, the AI industry is expected to grow at a rate of 42.2%. By 2027, the whole industry will likely be worth $733.7 billion.

41. By 2025, the edge AI chipset market is projected to grow to $12.2 billion in revenue.

Nowadays, many businesses are looking to adopt AI solutions for smaller devices and sensors that are light and high-speed in performance. Edge AI was introduced to address this need. 

As it’s expected to automate device and sensor levels across different sectors, the edge AI chipset market is seen to grow tremendously in the coming years.

In fact, its revenue is projected to reach $12.2 billion by 2025, surpassing that of the cloud AI chipset ($11.9 billion), which is currently AI’s primary home. 

42. By 2021, 15% of all customer service interactions globally will be completely handled by AI.

Artificial intelligence is predicted to become a staple of customer service. It’s already present, and the chances are that you’ve already come upon a chatbot or another example of AI in this industry.

Judging by the data we have, the future of AI statistics in customer service is very promising. In 2021, 15% of all customer interactions will be in the hands of artificial intelligence.

43. FinTech companies expect AI to boost their workforce by almost 19%.

Much fuss has been made about AI making jobs obsolete. To be sure, many jobs will be made much more affordable by AI, rendering human labor unnecessary.

But this loss can be compensated by employment gains in other branches of the industry.

As far as artificial intelligence and statistics about employment go, FinTech is a sector that is predicted to grow concerning its human workforce.

In fact, AI is expected to enable FinTech to expand its labor force by 19%.

44. The autonomous vehicle market will likely reach $126.8 billion by 2027.

Car accidents are among the most frequent causes of death in the world. Luckily, AI can do much to minimize the risks inherent in driving.

It can warn people of dangers on the road, provide information about the environment, and even take the wheel, be it temporarily or not.

Testing and development of autonomous vehicles have already been underway. For example, California has already racked up 2,900,000 miles of self-driving car testing.

Moreover, as the stats and facts on artificial intelligence show, the market for autonomous cars should reach $126.8 billion by 2027.

45. The global AI industry market will be worth $72.5 billion by 2025.

Massive spending on developing AI tech is pretty much a given, seeing how profoundly it can enhance the world.

Looking at the AI industry statistics and figures, we can see that the global industrial market will be worth more than $72 billion by 2025.

46. Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare market will be worth $45.2 billion by 2026.

When it comes to implementing AI in healthcare, stats show that the market is experiencing terrific expansion.

The market is predicted to grow from $4.9 billion in 2020 to $45.2 billion in 2026. It should arrive at this number at a CAGR of 44.9%.

47. The number of drones on construction sites increased by 239% between 2017 and 2018.

Drones are useful in construction for a slew of reasons. Among other advantages, drones let construction experts survey terrain, measure excavation depths, and document progress.

This adds to a safer work environment, judging by AI safety statistics in construction.

For all these reasons, AI drone use has been on a sharp rise.  In 2016, almost 25% of all construction sites in the U.S. are drone-driven.

And between 2017 and 2018 alone, the number of drones in construction ballooned by 239%.

48. The machine learning market will have a CAGR of 42.08% between 2018 and 2024.

Machine learning involves creating algorithms that can learn from experience, improving themselves based on the information they receive.

These algorithms can be handy, which explains the soaring market expansion for machine learning.

As artificial intelligence statistics and machine learning statistics indicate, the ML market’s CAGR will be 42.08% from 2018 to 2024.

49. More than 40% of privacy compliance technology will utilize AI by 2023.

One of the important facts about artificial intelligence that doesn’t get the attention it deserves is that it can do great things in privacy compliance.

While it hasn’t really caught on nowadays (the AI adoption rate is around 5% at the moment of writing), experts predict that it will spread like wildfire in the future.

In 2023, the adoption rate of AI in privacy compliance will most likely reach 40%.

50. The virtual assistant market worldwide will reach $19.6 billion by 2025.

Virtual assistants are quickly becoming a norm, as artificial intelligence assistant statistics reveal. Back in 2018, the market for virtual assistants was worth $2.3 billion.

However, by 2025, this market should skyrocket to $19.6 billion.

51. 83% of US managers are either currently using AI/machine learning or intend to use it in the next 3–5 years.

We can’t deny the capabilities of AI and what it can do to empower businesses. The statistics of AI use tell us that managers are largely settled on this fact.

More than 80% of managers either plan on using AI or machine learning or are doing so right now.

52. The AI retail market is primed to reach $15.3 billion by 2025.

The statistics about artificial intelligence use in retail predict that the market will reach $15.3 billion by 2025. The CAGR for the period between 2019 and 2025 is predicted to be 35.9%.

Statistics Against AI

53. 53% of US manufacturing jobs have high automation potential.

When talking about AI’s drawbacks, statistics of AI taking over factory jobs in the US inevitably come up. Indeed, there will be some job losses as AI settles into industries and occupies various jobs.

As it turns out, artificial intelligence can automate a lot of jobs in manufacturing. In fact, it can replace more than half of them.

54. The cost of training NLP models is $1 per 1,000 parameters.

NLP is short for Natural Language Processing, and it deals with processing language data. It’s a complicated thing to create, especially on a large scale any large company would need.

This is why the current state of artificial intelligence implies a hefty price tag for anyone looking to hook up an AI to their company’s infrastructure.

To get an idea of how expensive an NLP model can get, experts estimate that 1,000 parameters for an NLP model cost $1.

Seeing that an NLP model can have millions upon millions of parameters, the development costs can quickly get pretty steep.

55. 34% of employers expect that robots will replace their jobs in the next three years.

Given how effective artificial intelligence is at so many things, people are a little concerned about having to hand over their job to a robot. Around a third of people feel endangered by AI taking jobs, stats indicate.

56. AI will take around 20 million jobs from people by 2030.

More and more robots are joining the workforce, and that’s just one of those AI facts we can’t ignore. There are already well over 2 million robots toiling away around the world as we speak.

By 2030, we can expect many jobs to fall into the hands of robots. Around 20 million jobs should become automated. Interestingly, the majority of them will be in China.

57. The winner of Facebook’s Deepfake Detection Challenge was able to detect deepfakes with an accuracy rate of 65.18%.

Ever since they became a well-known thing, deepfakes have had civilians and authorities alike very worried.

Efforts were made to create AI solutions that can detect deepfakes, such as the one that won Facebook’s Deepfake Detection Challenge with a 65% accuracy rate.

You may be wondering why this statistic finds itself in the “harmful AI statistics” section. Well, for one, AI is a vital component of creating deepfakes.

Secondly, using AI to detect them hasn’t proven effective enough so far.

58. Every AI machine per 1,000 human workers reduces wages by 0.42%.

As more AI workers enter the workforce, they gradually affect people’s wages. Statistics on AI replacing jobs show a reduction in workers’ salaries.

Namely, for every 1,000 workers replaced by AI, there is a 0.42% dip in wages.

59. 75% of enterprises will need to invest in employee retraining and development to adapt to AI use.

AI is rapidly becoming a mainstay of many businesses. Moreover, not making use of it can result in a company lagging behind its competition. So getting with the program is a must in many cases.

But introducing AI into your workplace is a costly task, especially in terms of employee retraining.

Artificial intelligence facts and figures on this matter show that three-quarters of enterprises believe they need employee retraining and development to adapt to the AI they intend to use.

Key Takeaways

Hopefully, these artificial intelligence statistics have given you a more grounded perspective on this revolutionary technology.

What we can see from this data is far from a looming threat to humanity. Rather, it is a great addition to the economy and companies of all stripes.

While there are a few things that cause concern, the overall data draws a very positive picture of the future.

Frequently Asked Questions