Artificial intelligence… looking back as we move forward

From 2010 heading this way the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by active managers has been increasing in a most absorbing manner. To use the Roman historian Suetonius, "AI investing is not going away." In a 2017 conference organised by J. P. Morgan, the bank asked 237 investors about big data and machine learning, and the resulting data found that "70 per cent thought that the importance of these tools (of AI) will gradually grow for all investors. And a further 23 per cent said they expected a revolution, with rapid changes to the investment landscape". But this investor interest with AI also signals a certain frustration with current active, and specifically quant, managers and the nascent promise shown by AI hedge funds.