The World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) first report of a series called WIPO Technology Trends, an extensive study of patent applications and other scientific documents, offers clues to the next big thing in AI. Rather than treating'AI' as a single homogeneous discipline (see our guide to AI terminology), the WIPO report divides it into AI techniques, AI functional applications and AI application fields, offering a finer-grained analysis. AI techniques are advanced forms of statistical and mathematical models used in AI, including machine learning, logic programming, ontology engineering, probabilistic reasoning and fuzzy logic. Machine learning is included in more than one third of all identified inventions and represents 89 per cent of AI filings, the report finds. Between 2013 and 2016, filings related to deep learning rocketed by about 175 per cent.

This report is the first in a new series from WIPO tracking the development of technologies through the analysis of data on innovation activities. It reveals trends in patenting of artificial intelligence (AI) innovations, the top players in AI from industry and academia, and the geographical distribution of AI-related patent protection and scientific publications. Its findings are accompanied throughout by commentary and industry perspectives from more than 20 of the world's leading experts in AI, making it of particular interest to business leaders, researchers and policymakers.