In March 2022, the Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) published its fifth edition of the AI Index Report. As mentioned in the report “The AI Index Report tracks, collates, distills, and visualizes data related to artificial intelligence. Its mission is to provide unbiased, rigorously vetted, and globally sourced data for policymakers, researchers, executives, journalists, and the general public to develop a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the complex field of AI. The report aims to be the world’s most credible and authoritative source for data and insights about AI.”

The report covers several aspects of AI, including chapters on research & development in AI, technical performance, technical AI ethics, economy and education, and AI policy and governance. According to some of the figures presented, the number of AI publications continued to increase in 2021 amounting to 334,497 scientific publications, with the top two fields of study being pattern recognition and machine learning. In terms of citations of AI journal publications, China’s share has gradually increased to 28% in 2021, while those of the European Union plus the United Kingdom (21%) and the United States (17%) have decreased.

Concerning AI patents, the number of AI patents filed increased exponentially in the last 10 years, and especially after 2015, with a compound annual growth rate of 76.9% between 2015 and 2021. The majority of the patents filed where in China, which accounted for 52%, with the EU plus the United Kingdom accounting for only 4%.

In 2021, global private investment in AI totalled around $93.5 billion, which is more than double the total private investment in 2020. By geographical area, the United States led the world in overall private investment in AI with approximately $52.9 billion, followed at a distance by China with $17.2 billion, and the United Kingdom with $4.65 billion. Private investment in the EU amounted to only $6.42 billion.

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