Australia will soon become the second biggest investor in artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, a report from the Infosys (NASDAQ:INFY) Knowledge Institute has revealed, with investment in the emerging tech expected to balloon from A$63 million to A$159 million in 2024.
That’s a massive 150% increase, placing Australia just behind China in our region in terms of GenAI investment.
Massive regional investment in AI
The region as a whole is also set for massive growth; the report predicted a 140% uptick for the APAC region, accounting for a further US$3.4 billion to be invested in AI across Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, India and Singapore.
“Generative AI is clearly a transformative technology,” Infosys Asia Pacific executive vice president Andrew Growth said.
“Although company leaders across APAC have been more cautious than companies in the rest of the world, they are set to outpace firms in other regions.
“Additionally, they are already delivering more value from their spending on generative AI.
“To continue to make the most of this technology and to become AI-first organisations, they should focus on talent development and making AI more accessible through a platform ecosystem.”
Infosys' report found that while APAC firms had been slower to invest in AI than their US and European counterparts, they’re also getting more bang for their buck.
The region is also more optimistic about the technology’s ability to streamline workflow, with 30% of companies in the region stating they expect it to make product development and design more efficient compared to 20% in North America and 25% in Europe.
All in all, it seems the hype around AI, and specifically GenAI, will not be dying off anytime soon.