Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science that emphasizes the creation of intelligent machines that act and respond like humans.
It is becoming a key driver of next-generation innovation, with developers in Southeast Asia increasingly competing with one another to find latest approaches and expand their reach.
Southeast Asia is a region that has made significant investments in artificial intelligence and, consequently, boasts enormous growth in its artificial intelligence capabilities and expertise.
Recognizing AI’s ability to affect each the business and social environments, the region has published a wide range of AI-related research papers and patents lately.
Topics include not only computer algorithms, but in addition semiconductors, robotics, medicine and biochemistry, thus highlighting the flexibility of artificial intelligence and its potential applications to affect on a regular basis life.
According to Clarivate Analytics AND InCites The benchmarking results show an overall increase within the variety of AI patents published in Southeast Asia over the past 20 years, with a gradual increase since 2013.
Below are the numbers of AI-related research papers published by TOP 10 Southeast Asian universities:
| Southeast Asian Universities | Country | Number of scientific articles related to artificial intelligence |
| Nanyang Technological University | Singapore | 2827 |
| National University of Singapore | Singapore | 2383 |
| University of Malaya | Malaysia | 1103 |
| Malaysian University of Technology | Malaysia | 1150 |
| Putra University Malaysia | Malaysia | 626 |
| Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) | Singapore | 539 |
| Kebangsaan University Malaysia | Malaysia | 643 |
| King Mongkut Polytechnic University | Thailand | 618 |
| Universiti Sains Malaysia | Malaysia | 523 |
| Mahidol University | Thailand | 274 |
Similarly, by country, Singapore stays the leader within the region, accounting for 77% of all patent publications in Southeast Asia.
Using Derwent Innovation, we are able to discover specific firms investing within the AI market. Established brands Johnson & Johnson, Applied Materials and Softbank Robotics are on the forefront of the sector, dominating published patents within the country.
PATENT LANDSCAPE OF PATENT IN THE REGION
| Country | Artificial intelligence patent published (%) |
| Singapore | 77 |
| Vietnam | 7 |
| Indonesia | 6 |
| Malaysia | 5 |
| Philippines | 4 |
| Thailand | 1 |
Briefly, below are a very powerful observations from the evaluation:
# Southeast Asia continues to extend its patent count, maintaining regular growth since 2013. • More than 24,000 AI-related papers have been published within the Southeast Asia region, with Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand accounting for 86% of production
# Of the 161 highly cited articles on AI in Southeast Asia, 97 are from Singapore. Singapore is the one country to outperform the worldwide average
# Singapore leads the region, accounting for 77% of patent publications and over 40% of AI-related research literature
# From 1997 to 2016, patent activity in Singapore was dominated by innovations in semiconductors, image recognition and speech recognition
Source: Benchmarking and InCites evaluation by Clarivate Analytics
