A big Dutch bank's fancy new AI system is here to help human traders--for now

Bond traders have had a rough time recently, as their ranks have thinned since the financial crisis due to stricter regulations and the decline in manually intensive voice trading. They now face their toughest challenge yet, with AI-enabled automation threatening jobs across the industry. Goldman Sachs recently reported three consecutive quarters of decline in revenue at its bond-trading division. Overall, the number of fixed-income traders on banks' desks last year fell by 7%, to 17,500, double the rate of cuts from the previous year, according to Coalition. Things are picking up a bit this year, but few expect a return to the heady days when bond traders were known as the "Masters of the Universe."