Top uses for AI in the financial services sector include'next-best action' systems; portfolio optimization; and fraud detection. The recent attention showered on ChatGPT, the natural- language processing tool developed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI that can reportedly mimic advanced conversations and writing tasks, was likely not lost on CFOs. Financial executives are increasingly aware that they must strike a delicate balance between supporting C-suite enthusiasm for AI initiatives while conserving scarce resources. AI's long-term potential, however, is leading executives to prioritize it, according to a study released by tech firm Nvidia this month. The percentage of financial services executives surveyed who said their executive leadership teams value and believe in AI has more than doubled to 64% from 36% of those polled last year, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based Nvidia reported.

While some facets of the sci-fi classic have come to pass, such as voice-command technology, and others are currently unfolding, such as the destructive effects of climate change, the dramatic AI advances that fool Harrison Ford still feel a long way off. But that hasn't stopped AI from becoming one of the buzziest terms thrown around by technology and financial services experts. Fintech startups use the word to make products appear cutting-edge and established firms find they have to offer "AI" to remain competitive. The products they are referring to as AI, though, are often little more than new data models or even just outright vaporware -- technology sold on a conceptual level that hasn't been built yet, according to many technology leaders in the advice industry. "There are a lot of packages out there that are more'artificial' than'intelligence'," said Raj Madan, BNY Mellon Pershing's managing director of technology.

In cybersecurity, prevention is not the best medicine. As we've learned from recent infiltrations inside the networks of leading corporations and federal government agencies, it is virtually impossible for a large organization to draw an impenetrable perimeter of defense around its data. The'castle model' of cybersecurity has been found wanting. But that does not mean the firewalls need to be taken down. Instead, our metaphorical castle must be staffed with a network of spies trained to monitor every single visitor who crosses the moat and flag any suspicious behavior they encounter.