Research finds AI could deliver ‘new era’ of global innovation

According to the report by innovation consultancy Ayming, 84% of businesses believe that AI is positively impacting innovation in terms of both output and process. 

The report says that 41% of businesses have already restructured their R&D teams to accommodate wider use of AI in the innovation process, with the number rising to 52% among large companies.

The focus on AI has led to a shift in priorities, with 29% of respondents ranking the implementation of AI as their second highest innovation priority, just after the broader adoption of technology, which 32% of businesses see as their primary concern.

A total of 47% of businesses are allocating between 6 and 20% of their innovation budget to R&D in AI, while nearly a quarter (22%) are devoting more than 20%.

Njy Rios, Director of R&D Incentives at Ayming UK, said, “The development of AI has been driven – and dominated – by mega-cap tech giants like Microsoft and Google but the launch of accessible models like ChatGPT have partly served to democractise access to AI.

“The barrier to entry has been lowered and now businesses of all sizes can integrate AI into their operations without developing their own systems from scratch – which they likely neither have the financial nor human resources to contemplate. Instead, as AI models are commoditised, we can expect to see competitive advantage shift from those that own AI technology towards those applying it most effectively.”