Some 63% of financial service bosses have revealed their AI concerns. Specifically, they believe that not enough is being done to prepare the sector for the “unintended consequences of artificial intelligence.

The findings are released by EY in its latest EY CEO Outlook Pulse Survey.

C-level suite concerns relate to the ongoing threat of ‘bad actors’ using AI to spread misinformation or generate deep fakes. This comes on top of concerns over the privacy risks and ethical usage of Generative AI technology.

However, these concerns have not held back much of the financial sector’s enthusiasm to adopt AI. EY reports that 90 out of the 96 chief executives surveyed said they are making the AI addition to their capital allocation. Over half have already invested employing the tech.

Missing out on potential AI benefits not an option

Yi Ding, Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Gillmore Centre for Financial Technology, said: “Innovation is key for the financial services industry. Limiting AI research and implementation will only hold the sector back. As with any new technology, organisations must be aware of the risks it poses.

“But artificial intelligence has already proven itself a valuable tool for tasks such as data analysis to support the detection of financial criminals, chatbots to support customer service in online banking, and forecasting to support strategic decision making for business growth. Missing out on these benefits is not an option for such a fast-moving sector.”

“The financial services sector should embrace the R&D programmes being undertaken by academic institutions for the trustworthy development of AI and prioritise a safety-first approach during its adoption. Once staff are given proper training, and organisations mitigate the risks, they will be able to reap the significant benefits that AI has to offer the industry.”

Sheeraz Saleem, Chief Technology Officer at DKK Partners, added: “AI should be harnessed as a deputy to excel business operations and work hand-in-hand with staff to also enhance their employee experience. The financial sector can benefit greatly from using AI to help make better-informed decisions, using algorithms to process and extract data to get the best results.

LeackStat 2023