Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen increasing adoption with its use expanding into fraud detection and even the creative realm, which is commonly perceived to be intrinsically human. Humans, though, still have a role to play in areas that require intuition and morality. Creative AI may seem to be an oxymoron, but AI-powered processes already are at work in activities that thrive on creativity, according to executives at Appier. Based in Taiwan, the SaaS vendor taps AI to build products for digital marketers and brands, processing almost 30 billion predictions a day. Its tools are touted to help these companies deliver richer user experience and identify customers with long-term value.

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.

CENTRAL bankers around the world have set up or are creating departments to embrace Big Data in the quest for deeper insight into the economies they manage. David Hardoon, chief data officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in a recent speech said: "Isaac Asimov once said, 'I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.'" "We are now starting to put in place the necessary tools, infrastructure and skillsets to harness the power of data science to unlock insights, sharpen surveillance of risks, enhance regulatory compliance and transform the way we do work." Authorities like Mr Hardoon are tapping publicly available sources such as Google Trends and jobs websites to help "nowcast" their economies, and confidential data like credit registers that can help identify a stressed bank.

Central bankers around the world have set up or are creating departments to embrace big data in the quest for deeper insight into the economies they manage. "Isaac Asimov once said, 'I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them,'" David Hardoon, chief data officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said in a recent speech. "We are now starting to put in place the necessary tools, infrastructure and skillsets to harness the power of data science to unlock insights, sharpen surveillance of risks, enhance regulatory compliance and transform the way we do work." Authorities like Hardoon are tapping publicly-available sources such as Google Trends and jobs websites to help "nowcast" their economies, and confidential data like credit registers that can help identify a stressed bank.