Investing in artificial intelligence and cognitive systems could be a smart move for investors as well as entrepreneurs. Why?

A new report from research firm IDC projects that spending on AI and related systems will zoom more than 500 percent over the next five years.

Spending is projected to soar to $47 billion by 2020 from the some $8 billion being spend this year, IDC says in its Worldwide Semiannual Cognitive/Artificial Intelligence Systems Spending Guide.

IDC notes the growth rate comes to more than 55 percent per year.

Big spenders in 2016 include banking and retail along with healthcare and what IDC calls “discrete manufacturing.”

Looking ahead, however, IDC projects that healthcare and discrete manufacturing will “deliver the greatest revenue growth.”

Most of the 2016 spend – more than $6 billion – is taking place in North America.However, IDC forecasts that the growth rate in spending will be faster in Japan, Asia and Latin America through 2020.

Why such growth?

AI is rapidly become pervasive, IDC reports.

“Software developers and end user organizations have already begun the process of embedding and deploying cognitive/artificial intelligence into almost every kind of enterprise application or process,” said David Schubmehl, research director for cognitive systems and content analytics at IDC.

“Recent announcements by several large technology vendors and the booming venture capital market for AI startups illustrate the need for organizations to be planning and undertaking strategies that incorporate these wide-ranging technologies. Identifying, understanding, and acting on the use cases, technologies, and growth opportunities for cognitive/AI systems will be a differentiating factor for most enterprises and the digital disruption caused by these technologies will be significant.”

Automation, analytics for such things as fraud management, and improvements in life sciences as well as public safety are among the AI/cognitive systems drivers, according to IDC.

“Near-term opportunities for cognitive systems are in industries such as banking, securities and investments, and manufacturing,” said Jessica Goepfert, program director for Customer Insights and Analysis at IDC. “In these segments, we find a wealth of unstructured data, a desire to harness insights from this information, and an openness to innovative technologies. Furthermore, the value proposition of cognitive systems aligns well with industry executives’ chief priorities. For instance, cognitive technologies are being used in the banking industry to detect and combat fraud – consistently a top industry pain point. Meanwhile, in manufacturing, executives cite improving product quality as a top initiative. In this case, cognitive systems recognize and know how to respond to dynamic fluctuations in product specs by adapting the production to stay within quality targets.”