Automation and financial services: debunking the myths

In an age of self-driving cars, 'robot surgery' and computers capable of trouncing human players in hugely-complex games such as Chess or Go, it seems obvious to many that the automation of Wall Street, the City of London, Frankfurt and other financial centres must be imminent. It is assumed that Artificial intelligence (AI) will shortly consign the stock picker and fund manager to the same historical oblivion as the textile weaver. Now it is quite true that AI has great potential in financial services, of which more in a moment. But in the here and now, the exaggerated expectations of technophile observers have, alas, to be gently let down. When this happens, the reaction of these observers is frequently to swing to the other extreme, and complain that the financial services industry is failing to take advantage of AI and is stuck in a technological dark age.