Mentions of artificial intelligence within the filings of companies in the automotive industry were 141% increase between July 2020 and June 2021 than in 2016, according to the latest analysis of data from GlobalData.
When companies in the automotive industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. Artificial intelligence is one of these topics – companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.
To assess whether artificial intelligence is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the automotive industry, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned artificial intelligence at least once in filings during the past twelve months – this was 86% compared to 57% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to artificial intelligence.
Of the 50 biggest employers in the automotive industry, Yamaha Motor Co Ltd was the company which referred to artificial intelligence the most between July 2020 and June 2021. GlobalData identified 151 artificial intelligence-related sentences in the Japan-based company’s filings – 2.2% of all sentences. Aisin Seiki Co Ltd mentioned artificial intelligence the second most – the issue was referred to in 1.9% of sentences in the company’s filings. Other top employers with high artificial intelligence mentions included Denso Corp, Ford Motor Co and Toyota Boshoku Corp.
Across all companies in the automotive industry the filing published in the second quarter of 2021 which exhibited the greatest focus on artificial intelligence came from Ford Motor Co. Of the document’s 1,720 sentences, 22 (1.3%) referred to artificial intelligence.
This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on artificial intelligence and how important the issue is considered within the automotive industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning artificial intelligence more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company’s ventures into artificial intelligence have been successes or failures.
In the last quarter, companies in the automotive industry based in Asia were most likely to mention artificial intelligence with 0.32% of sentences in company filings referring to the issue. In contrast, companies with their headquarters in the United States mentioned artificial intelligence in just 0.17% of sentences.