UK Artificial Intelligence (AI) Statistics and Trends 2024 – Forbes Advisor UK

The growing field of artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to revolutionize our lives.

Apple is the latest major tech player to announce a deepening of its involvement in the space, signaling a tie-up with vendor OpenAI that will see its ChatGPT functionality integrated into Apple’s operating system later in 2024.

The move aims to improve the performance of the Siri voice assistant and make it easier to generate text and other content.

With AI already present in everything from self-driving cars to medical diagnostic tools, we look at how the adoption of the technology is changing the UK.

Growth and adoption of AI in the UK

• According to the US International Trade Administration, the UK AI market is worth more than £16.8 billion and is expected to reach £801.6 billion by 2035.¹
• The number of UK AI companies has grown by more than 600% in the last 10 years.²
• According to a government study, around one in six UK organisations, or 432,000, have adopted at least one AI technology.³
• 68% of large companies, 33% of medium-sized companies and 15% of small companies have integrated at least one AI technology.⁴
• After a 10-week trial of computer vision technology, Marks & Spencer reported an 80% reduction in warehouse accidents.⁵
• Government data⁴ shows the most commonly adopted AI solutions in the UK, focusing on:

– data management and analysis (9%)

– natural language processing and generation (8%)

– machine learning (7%)

– AI hardware (5%)

– computer vision and image processing and generation (5%).

• The IT and telecommunications sector has the highest AI adoption rate at 29.5%, followed closely by the legal sector at 29.2%. The hospitality, healthcare and retail sectors have the lowest adoption rates at around 11.5%.

Impact on the economy and employment

• The UK has more than 360,000 AI workers.⁶
• AI contributed £3.7 billion to the economy in 2022.⁷
• Britain has twice as many AI-based companies as any other European nation.⁷
• The largest estimated net job gains from AI over the next 20 years are expected to be in the UK’s health and social care sector.⁸
• Among the UK’s major regions, Greater London leads the way in AI-focused businesses, home to 1,387 AI companies as of June 2023.⁹
• London is the UK’s leading hub for AI startups, home to companies such as DeepMind, Adbrain and BenevolentAI, as well as leading machine learning research groups at UCL, Kings and Imperial College.

• Job postings across all industries that mention AI advertise salaries 20% higher than those that don’t.

• The government estimates that around 7% of existing UK jobs could be lost over the next five years, rising to around 18% after 10 years and almost 30% after 20 years – the equivalent of around 2.2 million jobs.⁸

AI Language Models

• A Forbes Advisor survey found that 85% of Britons are aware of AI language models such as Chat GPT, Google Bard and Bing Chat.
• Since its introduction in November 2022, eight of the 24 Russell Group universities have formally banned the use of ChatGPT and other AI language models.

Autonomous vehicles

• Self-driving cars are set to be on UK roads by 2025, with £100m of government funding dedicated to the goal so far.
• A Forbes Advisor study found that 85% of respondents had reservations about AI technology in cars.

AI Research and Development

• The UK government has been ranked third in the 2023 Global AI Readiness Index and first in Western Europe. ^ten
• Since 2014, the government has allocated more than £2.3 billion to various artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.¹¹
• In the Spring Budget 2023The UK government has spent almost £1 billion on AI research.¹²
• The UK plans to invest £900m in a cutting-edge supercomputer as part of an artificial intelligence strategy that aims to ensure the country can build its own ‘BritGPT’.¹³

Trends, perspectives and concerns

• A study by Forbes Advisor found that 59% of Britons are concerned about the use of artificial intelligence.
• The main concerns were:

Sources:

Forbes Advisor’s primary data was collected from a sample of 2,000 adults, representative of the UK population. It was commissioned by Forbes Advisor and conducted by market research company Opinium. Data was collected in May 2023.

1. https://www.trade.gov/market-intelligence/united-kingdom-artificial-intelligence-market-2023
2. https://www.great.gov.uk/campaign-site/uk-na-innovation/sectors/artificial-intelligence/
3. https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/articles/understandingaiuptakeandsentimentamongpeopleandbusinessesintheuk/june2023
4. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/61d87355e90e07037668e1bd/AI_Activity_in_UK_Businesses_Report__Capital_Economics_and_DCMS__January_2022__Web_accessible_.pdf
5. https://www.protex.ai/post/marks-and-spencer-reduced-incidents-by-80-in-their-first-10-weeks-of-deployment#:~:text=This%20momentum%20led %20to%20year, incidents%20on%20the%20warehouse%20floor
6. https://thedatacity.com/rtics/artificial-intelligence-rtic0004/
7. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-unveils-world-leading-approach-to-innovation-in-first-artificial-intelligence-white-paper-to-turbocharge-growth
8. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1023590/impact-of-ai-on-jobs.pdf
9. https://thedatacity.com/blog/the-uks-top-artificial-intelligence-ai-hotspots/
10. https://oxfordinsights.com/ai-readiness/ai-readiness-index/
11. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-ai-strategy/national-ai-strategy-html-version
12. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-commits-up-to-35-billion-to-future-of-tech-and-science
13. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/15/uk-to-invest-900m-in-supercomputer-in-bid-to-build-own-britgpt