Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic for businesses. AI capabilities are expanding the possibilities for how businesses approach real-time engagement with their customers, manage their operations and ensure business continuity. As technology advances, companies are finding new ways to innovate and expand. Here are some top AI statistics to help you understand AI usage in 2024 – and beyond.

Top AI Statistics

History shows that new technology can have far-reaching effects, and the potential of AI layered on top of modern digital operations is likely to drive significant economic disruption. According to the CompTIA IT Industry Outlook 2024 report:

• 22% of firms are aggressively pursuing the integration of AI across a wide variety of technology products and business workflows.
• 33% of firms are engaging in limited implementation of AI.
• 45% of firms are still in the exploration phase.

Hesitation in adoption may stem from challenges like the cost of upgrading applications, the cost of building out infrastructure or the need to fully understand the data needed to properly train AI.

The State of AI in Business

While some businesses are eager to adopt AI, and others are still exploring how the technology can benefit their organization, most agree that AI will play a significant role in the future of business growth and enhancement.

According to a Forbes Advisor survey, businesses are using AI tools in the following ways:

• 56% are using AI to improve and perfect business operations.
• 51% are turning to AI to help with cybersecurity and fraud management.
• 47% harness AI tools in the form of digital personal assistants.
• 46% are using AI for customer relationship management.
• 40% are turning to AI for inventory management.
• 35% are leveraging AI for content production.
• 33% are using AI for product recommendations.
• 30% are turning to AI for accounting assistance and supply chain operations.
• 26% harness AI for recruitment and talent sourcing.
• 24% are using AI for audience segmentation.

Overall, there is a widespread adoption of AI in business. But companies aren’t using it for world domination but rather to automate processes, enhance customer service and personalization, increase output, and analyze data. Overall, businesses are trying to obtain a competitive advantage.

Learn common AI terminology. 

AI Priorities and Plans

Creating a competitive advantage is good business practice. But jumping into artificial intelligence isn’t just an easy fix. BuiltIn reports the following risks and urges companies to prioritize the following when it comes to AI:

• Automation-spurred job loss
• Deepfakes
• Privacy violations
• Algorithm bias caused by bad data
• Socioeconomic inequality
• Market volatility
• Weapons automatization
• Uncontrollable self-aware AI

AI Market Statistics

It’s clear that AI is enabling many business segments across industries worldwide to grow. The potential for the AI market is untapped at this point. It’s hard to predict quantifiable market growth when AI tools, technologies and use cases are still being created.

Here’s what we know:

• Forbes cites the global AI market size as valued at $136.55 billion in 2022.
• NextMSC posts the global AI market size as worth approximately $207.9 billion in 2023.

Here’s what we expect:

• Similarweb reports the global AI market size is expected to be worth $407 billion by 2027. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 36.2% from 2022.
• Precedence Research projects the U.S. AI market size to reach around $594 billion by 2032. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 19% from 2023.

Artificial Intelligence Growth

We’ve been talking about AI growth in terms of metrics and the global economy. But the growth of new technology can be measured by more than numbers. The impact AI has already had on the way we live and work, combined with its potential to further revolutionize our lives, is arguably more important. From self-driving cars to health and wellness tools and navigation applications, how artificial intelligence grows from here begs a few questions.

With AI advancements and growth comes a slew of questions to consider:

• How do we minimize unintended bias?
• How do we ensure transparency?
• How do we protect privacy?

While plenty of discussion surrounds these core questions, there isn’t an easy, correct answer. It’s essential that as AI continues to grow and evolve, we continue to invest in research and development with these issues in mind. Of equal importance is the careful consideration of policies and regulations that promote the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence, similar to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) in the United States and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe.

Obstacles to AI Adoption

Despite the snowballing adoption rates of artificial intelligence and advancements in AI technology, there are some barriers that are preventing organizations from implementing AI. CompTIA has identified the top obstacles to AI adoption as being:

• Lack of skilled individuals and hiring shortages
• Unclear return on investment (ROI) metrics
• Complexity of AI systems
• Lack of governance
• Fear of job replacement

But understanding your clients’ specific needs and goals can help you customize your AI strategy and enhance your services.

Consider the following questions:

• Where are the two or three spaces that you could add the most value to your customers?
• What differentiating capabilities can you build that only you can bring to your customers using AI?
• Who are you going to turn away from using AI?
• What do you hope to achieve by implementing AI? Are you looking to improve efficiency, reduce costs or enhance the customer experience?

Related Content: Developing an AI Strategy: Use Cases, Challenges and Best Practices

Benefits of AI Adoption

Adopting AI can have positive benefits for business, including (but not limited to):

• Reduced operational time
• Greater business insight
• Reduced human error
• Automation of rote tasks
• Enhanced productivity
• Better customer service

Impact of AI on Jobs and the Employment Market

Many have expressed concern for their job status with the impending growth of AI and machine learning:

• IBM reports that 30% of IT professionals say their colleagues are using AI and automation tools to save time.
• eMarketer says that 69% of executives believe AI will lead to the emergence of new jobs.

Despite the negative perceptions:

• AI technology is expected to create 12 million more jobs than it is expected to replace.
• Jobs are anticipated to be in high demand, with 97 million specialists needed in the AI industry by 2025.
• More than 1 in 4 dollars invested in American startups in 2023 went to an AI-related company.

A Simplilearn article explains the top AI applications being used across industry sectors:

eCommerce

• Personalized shopping apps
• AI-powered assistants
• Fraud prevention

Education

• Automated administrative tasks
• Creating smart content
• Voice assistants
• Personalized learning

Healthcare

• Detect diseases
• Analyze chronic conditions
• Discovery of new drugs

Agriculture

• Identify deficiencies in soil
• Analyze weed growth patterns
• Harvest crops at a higher volume and a quicker rate

Marketing

• Targeted and personalized ads
• Performance metrics
• Campaign optimization

Machine Learning and AI Stats

Taking part in machine learning, AI and big data is at the top of the priority list for many organizations. According to IBM:

• 34% of companies currently use AI, and an additional 42% are exploring AI.
• 35% of organizations are training and reskilling their teams to use new AI and automation tools.

The entertainment giant Netflix is also known for its use of machine learning and AI software in content recommendations, which the company reports as saving $1 billion per year.

Voice Search and AI Stats

With the prevalence of technologies such as Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri picking up speed, voice search has certainly taken its place in the emerging tech space. According to Tech Jury:

• 97% of mobile users are using AI-powered voice assistants.
• More than 4 billion devices already work on AI-powered voice assistants.
• 40% of people use the voice search function at least once every day.

Virtual Assistants

Disruptions in the workplace have given virtual assistants a boost as workers find more efficient ways to work in a decentralized environment:

• 50% of knowledge workers will use a virtual assistant by 2025, according to Gartner.
• GoGlobe reports that 54% of users agree that virtual personal assistants make their lives easier.

AI in the Retail Industry

Currently, the retail market is embracing the use of AI due to its ability to hyperpersonalize and make recommendations based on product selection:

• AI spending in the retail industry is expected to reach $20.05 billion by 2026, a compounded annual growth rate of 39% since 2019.
• 80% of retail executives expect their companies to adopt AI-powered intelligent automation by 2027.
• Juniper Research reports a growth of 230% in machine learning spending between 2019 and 2023.

AI in Customer Service

AI certainly has been beneficial in the customer service realm. Semrush reports the following AI statistics:

• 80% of marketers already had chatbots as part of their customer experience strategy.
• 40% of businesses say that customer experience is their top motivator for using artificial intelligence.
• Chatbots responded to 85% of customer service interactions.

Chatbots and AI Facts and Figures

Many companies are embracing AI to support their customer service, most notably when it comes to customer interactions via chatbots. BloggingWizard compiled the following chatbot statistics:

• 23% of customer service companies are currently using AI, according to Salesforce.
• IBM reports that using chatbots can reduce customer service costs by as much as 30%.
• 68% of users enjoy the speed at which chatbots answer, according to UserLike.

Despite these gains, chatbots don’t come without challenges:

• 60% of people still prefer to speak to a live customer service representative, according to UserLike.
• 60% of people are also concerned that chatbots cannot accurately understand their queries, according to Business Insider.

AI in Marketing and Sales

There are so many AI use cases when it comes to marketing. Semrush reports that marketing and sales prioritize AI and machine learning more than any other department:

• 48% of marketing leaders cite AI as making the most significant difference in how customers interact with them.
• 51% of eCommerce companies use AI to provide a seamless experience.
• 64% of B2B marketers consider AI to be valuable in their marketing strategy.

Marketers are using generative AI tools to create content for campaigns, social media, websites and more. Many say AI tools help generate ideas and provide inspiration.

Of course, marketing and sales go hand-in-hand. The leads that marketing produces should, in theory, be handed off to sales to contact and close the deal. Here are a few ways AI can help salespeople convert leads into quantifiable sales:

• Lead scoring: AI tools can analyze data and assign scores to leads based on behavior, demographics and interactions, helping sales prioritize outreach.
• Automated review invites: AI tools can segment your customers and send automatic review invites based on behavior, saving sales time.
• Predictive analytics: AI tools can analyze customer data and help sales determine what products or services to promote to customers – and at what time.

FAQs

Some questions about AI and machine learning pop up frequently. Here are a few FAQs about AI that your customers may ask.

What Are the Three Types of AI?

There are three types of artificial intelligence:

• Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI): The only form of AI on the market now. ANI can solve a single problem and perform one task to satisfaction, such as suggesting a related product for a shopper.
• Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): A form of artificial intelligence that mimics how a human reasons, still only a theoretical concept to date.
• Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI): Also only conceptual in nature, ASI is the stuff of movies involving highly complex and logical artificial intelligence, which is capable of reasoning beyond human capabilities and has the ability to build emotional relationships.

Where Is AI Used Today?

It’s easy to think of artificial intelligence as a tool for tech companies. However, AI is being used globally across many different sectors. The eCommerce industry utilizes AI to help with personalized shopping, virtual shopping assistants and fraud protection. The education industry harnesses AI to automate administrative tasks, create personalized learning and provide voice assistants for extra learning materials. The healthcare industry utilizes AI to detect diseases and identify cancer cells. AI can also help analyze chronic conditions that lead to early diagnosis. These are just a few examples of how artificial intelligence is changing the landscape in a few industry sectors – but there are many more applications in many more markets. And more use cases are developing every single day.

What Is the Future of AI?

AI continues to advance. Companies such as IBM and Google are paving the way for the future of AI. IBM has recently made headway by enhancing natural language processing to enhance its AI platform, Watson. IBM is also anticipating fluid intelligence, a more complex use of AI that will allow technology to combine different forms of knowledge to solve more complex problems. In November 2022, OpenAI launched ChatGPT. ChatGPT is built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models and is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques. In December 2023, Google released the next generative AI family: Gemini. Gemini takes natural language processing (NLP) to the next level. All Gemini models are trained to work with more than just text – meaning audio, images and videos are now in the AI mix.

Who Has the Most Advanced AI?

According to Techopedia, the United States and China top the list of countries leading AI technology research and development. Nearly 60% of “top tier” AI researchers work for American universities and companies, and approximately $249 billion in private funding has been raised to date.

In comparison, China has 11% of the top-tier AI researchers and has raised $95 billion in private investment between 2022 and 2023. In fact, PwC believes the most significant economic gains from AI will be in China and North America – equivalent to a total of $10.7 trillion and accounting for almost 70% of the global economic impact. 

https://www.comptia.org/blog/artificial-intelligence-statistics-facts