It’s not magic: weighing the risks of artificial intelligence in financial services
There are no certainties in financial services. But it is at
least odds-on that the future for the financial services
sector is going to be shaped by Big Data – and that
means Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning,
since they are the technologies (the only technologies)
that can handle the massive quantities of information
that are now being produced.
We hear a great deal about the opportunities opened
up by AI and ML – and no one (sane) doubts their
potential. But there is another side to the discussion,
and it is one that is just as important. AI and ML are
difficult – complex, opaque, hard for non-specialists to
grasp. They may also lend themselves to anti-competitive
market concentration – and they will certainly throw up
a range of new challenges for incumbent and regulators.
This report focusses on the skills gap, on ethical
issues that are raised, on consumer protection and on
systematic threats. It is a timely counterpoint to much of
the AI boosterism about which we read so much.