KUALA lUMPUR: A recently released report by Clarivate Analytics on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Southeast Asia (SEA) has identified five Malaysian universities as among the top 10 in the region producing AI research papers with the most number of citations received from 2007 to 2016.
Universiti of Malaya (UM) is third after Singapore's Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore while Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) are fourth and fifth, respectively.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, is at the seventh spot, and Universiti Sains Malaysia, eighth, after sixth placed Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) from Singapore.
Thailand's King Mongkuts University of Technology and Mahidol University are placed ninth and tenth, respectively.
Malaysia published the second highest volume of AI-related research papers (8,416) ahead of Thailand (3,648), in third place. Singapore was the most prolific producer with 10,274 publications.
The output of Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore alone accounted for 86 per cent of the total research output for SEA.
By country, Singapore is the leader for patent publications accounting of 77 per cent of SEA's total. Malaysia is fifth as a country with five per cent of the regions published patents.
Clarivate Analytics states AI is becoming a driving force for next generation innovation, and developers in Southeast Asia are increasingly competing to uncover new approaches and broaden its reach.
SEA, the company says, is one region that has invested heavily in AI and as a result boasts huge growth in its AI capabilities and understanding.
Subject matters include not just computer algorithms but also semiconductors, robotics, medicine and biochemistry.