Artificial intelligence (AI) has been able to enhance the ability for us to leverage a larger volume of data generated in everyday business activities, and the FinTech industry is no exception. Financial services have enabled many individuals to break free of the traditional bank, expanding their options tremendously. The use of AI in FinTech can be used to optimize customer experiences, minimize risk and fraudulent transactions, and improve consumer credit decisions. Customers are constantly looking for more personalized experiences with their FinTech companies. One way many companies are accommodating this is through artificial intelligence.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship finally arrived on the coast of Nova Scotia last month, marking the end of its long trek across the Atlantic. While the modern Mayflower is far from the first vessel to make that voyage, this small robotic boat is the largest to ever do so navigated by artificial intelligence with no humans aboard. A few technical hiccups notwithstanding, its trip is the latest evidence that the future of the high seas could be autonomous. Slowly, self-steering ships are becoming a reality. In Norway, an autonomous battery-powered container vessel is shuttling fertilizer between a factory and a local port, and pending a successful trial, it could be fully certified within the next two years.

HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#AI–HighRadius, the Artificial Intelligence-powered Order to Cash and Treasury Management software leader, today expanded its Autonomous Software platform into the Record to Report function to help accounting teams complete month-end close activities faster and more accurately. The new Autonomous Accounting software includes Financial Close Management and Account Reconciliation products as part of the Record to Report suite offering. As the deadline for closing business transactions nears each month, controllers and their staff have the often thankless job of identifying anomalies and missing transactions across the business that may be captured in ERPs, accounting systems, third-party systems, Excel, or perhaps not captured at all. Dealing with these upstream business transactions under a tight timeline puts tremendous pressure on accounting teams to complete their work by the first day of the month. The HighRadius Autonomous Accounting solution uses native AI to continuously evaluate every transaction – including potentially missing transactions – to flag department stakeholders to review on a daily basis and self-correct in workflow collaboration with accounting staff.

In March of 2018, an Uber self-driving car killed for the first time: It did not recognize a pedestrian crossing the road. COMPAS, a machine-learning-based computer software system assisting judges in 12 courts in the US, was found by ProPublica to have harmful bias: It was discriminating between black and white people, suggesting to judges that the former were twice as likely to commit another crime than the latter and recommending longer detention periods for them before trial. I could continue with more examples of how AI can become harmful. Enterprises are infusing their enterprise applications with AI technology and building new AI-based digital experiences to transform business and accelerate their digital transformation programs. But there is a chance that all these positives about AI could end, especially if we continue to see examples like this of delivering poor-quality, untested AI or AI that's not properly tested for businesses and consumers.

Software that carries out tasks by itself sounds like sci-fi, but increasingly, it's part of everyday life – from self-driving cars to intelligent homes. For now, most smart technology is still designed in the US. Germany has some catching up to do.