AI Creating Big Winners in Finance - Markets Media

Artificial intelligence is changing the finance industry, with some early big movers monetizing their investments in back-office AI applications. But as this trend widens, new systemic and security risks may be introduced in the financial system. These are some of the findings of a new World Economic Forum report, The New Physics of Financial Services – How artificial intelligence is transforming the financial ecosystem, prepared in collaboration with Deloitte. "Big financial institutions are taking a page from the AI book of big tech: They develop AI applications and make them available as a'service' through the cloud," said Jesse McWaters, AI in Financial Services Project Lead at the World Economic Forum. "It is turning what were historically cost centres into new source of profitability, and creating a virtuous cycle of self-learning that accelerates their lead." The report, which draws on interviews and workshops with hundreds of financial and technology experts, observes that the "size of the prize" driven through these as-a-service offerings and other applications of AI is much larger than that of the more narrow applications that drive efficiency through the automation of human effort.