Wealth managers, family offices and other institutional investors believe that the artificial intelligence (AI) market is on the brink of a ‘seismic shift’, but concerns around regulation being too stringent remain.

A global survey commissioned by fund manager Robocap found that 99 per cent of wealth managers and family offices agreed that advances in AI technology would result in a sharp increase in investment in the sector.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) of respondents strongly agreed that advances in computer power, big data, and next gen models will cause an ‘explosion of investment’ in AI-driven automation, precision medicine, autonomous systems, and ethical AI governance, while 71 per cent slightly agreed with this view.

Over half (55 per cent) expected the AI market to reach a global market size of between $2.53trn and $3trn by 2033, while 44 per cent forecast it to hit around $2.5trn.

When asked about the robotics market, 96 per cent believed it would be worth between $383bn and $390bn by 2033.

While almost all wealth managers and family offices predicted strong growth in the AI market, 35 per cent strongly agreed and 65 per cent slightly agreed that AI and robotics regulation in the UK and EU was too stringent, curtailing creativity and innovation.

Markets such as the US and China have more relaxed regulation, although respondents highlighted several concerns about these markets.

Eight in 10 (80 per cent) were worried about privacy and data security, 71 per cent were concerned about technological vulnerabilities and cyber security, and 66 per cent were worried about autonomous AI systems making decisions without human intervention.

“We have already seen huge growth in the AI and robotics sectors and given the major advances in computing power, big data and AI models, so we agree there will be an explosion in investment in the next decade,” said Robocap founder and CIO, Jonathan Cohen.

“The AI and robotics investment universe is growing all the time, and requires the full attention of an investment team who are specialised in this rapidly expanding area.”

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