An ethical framework for the AI age

While blockchain and quantum computing continue to inch up the emerging technologies hype cycle, artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionising the financial services industry by stealth. Fuelled by the three'V's of big data – velocity, volume and variety – AI tools are being deployed across the bank, from the customer front end to deep in the back office. AI is an umbrella term that covers robotic process automation, or the simple automation of processes such as data entry; natural language processing (NLP), most commonly used in chatbots; and machine learning, as is used in robo-advisory services and credit scoring. To date, much of the focus has been on customer benefits, such as improved experience and more personalised products; however, Cathy Bessant, Bank of America's chief operations and technology officer, believes that the more exciting application areas are in risk management and financial forecasting. "AI gives us the ability to take vast amounts of data and produce forecasts and risk assessments based on changing variables to understand their impact. The opportunity for fast, world-class risk management is huge," she says.