In a shocking revelation, new research has shown that many of the artificial intelligence (AI) companies in Europe are actually not.
A news report in the Financial Times quoted extensively from research by a London-based investment firm MMC Ventures. The report by the latter said two-fifths of Europe’s AI startups were not found to use any AI programs in their products.
All of us know of the new hype being created around AI and machine learning technologies. Now, this research confirms doubts. MMC Ventures, said the FT report, could not find any evidence, based on public information and interviews with executives, of artificial intelligence applications at 40 per cent of 2,830 AI start-ups in Europe.
Nevertheless, the companies are often described as AI-focused, according to David Kelnar, MMC’s head of research, who added that many start-ups had plans to develop machine-learning programs, an application of AI that sees computers automatically learn and improve from experience, in the future.
It is pertinent to note that around 8 per cent of European startups founded last year were AI companies, compared with about 3 per cent in 2015, MMC’s research showed, with the UK taking the lead.