by Chuck Martin , March 11, 2019

Spending on artificial intelligence globally is forecast to reach $35.8 billion this year, an increase of 44% from last year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

By 2022, AI spending is projected to more than double to $79.2 billion, growing 38% annually.

The retail industry leads spending on AI systems, accounting for $5.9 billion this year on solutions such as automated customer service agents, expert shopping advisors and product recommendations.

Banking is projected to be the second largest industry with $5.6 billion being spent on AI-enabled solutions, including automated threat intelligence and prevention systems and fraud analysis.

Discrete manufacturing, healthcare providers and process manufacturing follow retail and banking.

"Significant worldwide artificial intelligence systems spend can now be seen within every industry as AI initiatives continue to optimize operations, transform the customer experience and create new products and services,” stated Marianne Daquila, research manager, customer insights and analysis, at IDC. "This is evidenced by use cases, such as intelligent process automation, expert shopping advisors and product recommendations, and pharmaceutical research and discovery exceeding the average five-year compound annual growth of 38%. The continued advancement of AI-related technologies will drive double-digit year-over-year spend into the next decade."

IDC projects the AI use cases receiving the highest investment this year to be automated customer service agents ($4.5 billion), sales process recommendation and automation ($2.7 billion) and automated threat intelligence and prevention systems ($2.7 billion).