Samsung to set up AI research centre

Samsung has unveiled plans to launch a new AI research centre.

Korean tech giant Samsung has unveiled plans to launch a research centre to explore and develop artificial technologies, it said on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, the company wants to bolster its role as a leader of this technology, and it'll do that by pioneering research in the area.

The company also wants to establish an "executive role" to take advantage of new business areas and technologies across its three main enterprise groups.

In a statement, the company said it's in the process of tweaking its business structure to "quickly respond to market changes". And artificial intelligence is at the top of the list.

Samsung has seen a plethora of changes in recent times. Just last month, it appointed new managers to deal with business struggles while vice chairman Jay Y. Lee remains detained for corruption charges.

Mobile has been a big focus for Samsung, but it hopes AI will be the next big thing. Although there's no information on the location of the centre, Samsung explained it'll work alongside its existing mobile and consumer electronics businesses.

Young Sohn, who works as chief strategy officer at the company, will be responsible for much of this work. He'll also conduct more "business development" activities.

AI is one of the most exciting areas in technology right now. As a market, it's set to grow to $100 billion in value by 2025, according to statistics from Constellation Research.

Many businesses are already see big potential in this technology. In fact, 72 per cent of business leaders believe that AI will have a fundamental impact on business over the coming years.

Steven van Belleghem, one of Europe's thought-leaders in the field, is a big believer in this technology. In particular, it'll transform mobile devices.

"AI has reached a tipping point since the moment Google Deepmind defeated the world champion in Go. That was when the world knew: machines are learning on their own, and we are 10 years ahead of schedule," he said.

"Since that day, we have seen many examples of focused AI applications. For instance in customer service, we see the rise of automated bots to help customers with AI technology.

"For smartphone users, the consumer benefits are very clear: faster than real time customers service where AI helps to solve problems before they occur," he added.