AI adoption in MENA grows 12 points in 2021, reaching 57%

The adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) has risen 12 points in 2021, according to a recent report from management and consulting firm, McKinsey and Company.

The report, which gathers surveys on AI use from across the world, found that AI adoption in the MENA region went from 45% in 2020 to 57% in 2021.

AI adoption continues to grow in the region, and the report states that “the benefits remain significant.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this growth, according to the report, helping companies in the region to strongly reduce costs and increase savings, positively affecting the corporations’ bottom line and revenue.

As AI becomes more sophisticated, 27% of companies surveyed by McKinsey report at least a 5% increase in their returns due to the new technology, with 31% of surveyed marketing and sales companies alone reporting a 6% profit increase.

Globally, the incorporation of AI has risen to 56% in at least one function, up from 50% in 2020.

The newest results suggest that AI adoption rates have increased most at companies headquartered in emerging economies, such as China. Indian companies have the highest adoption rate, followed closely by those in the Asia-Pacific region.

Although AI is being adopted rapidly, as well as the technology’s continued development on a daily basis, many are concerned that its growth will negatively impact the job market.

Bloomberg reports that “more than 120 million workers globally will need retraining in the next three years due to artificial intelligence’s impact on jobs, according to an IBM survey.”

The IBM report suggests that the adoption of AI may result in massive job losses and extensive retraining.

But many sector professionals refute the idea, arguing that as AI becomes more incorporated across various sectors, jobs will not be lost but rather changed.

As highlighted by an MIT-IBM Watson Lab research report back in 2020, the nature of tasks and skills required of some professionals will differ, while others become fully automated.