Particularly since the release of OpenAI‘s ChatGPT at the back-end of 2022, the world has sat up and taken notice of the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to disrupt all industries in countless ways. To kick off 2024, The Fintech Times is exploring how the world of AI may continue to impact the fintech industry and beyond throughout the coming year.
In 2023, Salesforce published research revealing some of the biggest generative AI trends of the year. It found that 75 per cent of generative AI users are looking to automate tasks at work and use generative AI for work communications. Furthermore, 38 per cent of generative AI users use the tech for fun/messing around. Meanwhile, 34 per cent use it for learning about topics that interest them.
Seventy-three per cent of the Indian population 49 per cent of the Australian population, 45 per cent of the US population and 29 per cent of the UK population surveyed were all using generative AI last year. With adoption trends suggesting that these numbers will only increase throughout 2024, it begs the question, how will the technology evolve over the year?
AI-driven by key players
For emerging technologies to succeed, they must be adopted by figureheads of an industry, and the financial sector is no different.
David Sewell, CTO, Synechron, the financial services digital transformation consulting firm explains: “Advanced AI will continue to offer businesses new ways to innovate and grow. ’Graph databases’, which store complex data structures (most commonly used for social networks), and which are very powerful when combined with generative AI (GenAI), will come to the fore.
“Likewise, ‘vector databases’ which store, manage and index massive quantities of high-dimensional vector data efficiently, are garnering significant interest for their potential to create additional value for GenAI use cases and applications.
“According to Gartner, by 2026, more than 30 per cent of enterprises will have adopted vector databases to ground their foundation models with relevant business data.
“Breakthroughs in GenAI and transfer learning from top universities and big tech are driving the next wave of innovation around AI. Key players like Google are building significant capabilities while still considering risks and monetisation.
“The biggest benefits for businesses will likely come from mass adoption of simple tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft copilot-like assistants that work alongside popular Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, to provide real-time intelligent assistance, enabling users to enhance their creativity, productivity and skills.
“But, as the use of AI proliferates, so too do fears about data safety, privacy and bias. For businesses seeking to allay these fears and develop safe, accountable AI solutions, effective governance is essential.”
Developing new techniques
Malcom deMayo, VP of financial services at NVIDIA, the multinational software company, explores the next big technique which will see AI further develop.
“Financial services firms are ramping up investment in AI, promoting its status within their organisations from AI associate to chief AI officer.
“In order to fine-tune a model to generate the insights that will best answer customer inquiries, minimise investment risk, or process documents for loan applications, underwriting, regulatory compliance and more, firms will need to train them on their proprietary, industry-specific data. That’s why firms will leverage new AI training techniques like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to shift from off-the-shelf generative AI solutions to custom models that more accurately serve internal and external stakeholders.
Tip of the iceberg
Dave Colwell, VP of AI and ML at Tricentis, automation software company, discusses how AI won’t just be a technology which requires a singular expert in a company. Rather, it will need an entire team – so much so, independent organisations will be called in to test the technology.
“We’re at the tip of the iceberg for the potential of generative AI.
Alongside increased adoption, we can expect significant regulatory progress. Steps have already been made following the 2023 AI Safety Summit, with a “landmark” cross-governmental agreement to test future AI models of some of the world’s biggest tech firms prior to release.
AI presents an almost unprecedented opportunity to improve the lives of everyday people, but also a potential disruption to many parts of society, including education, workforces, and our interpersonal interactions.
“This will likely mean independent organisations responsible for testing the safety of new AI models to confirm validity and accuracy, as well as a greater governmental role in defining how AI should be used to benefit, not harm, the people it governs. We can also expect major updates to compliance frameworks with responsible and acceptable AI use policies becoming commonplace.”
An added benefit, not a human replacement
There have been many fears surrounding AI and the potential threats it could have on human jobs. Dr Henry Balani, global head of industry and regulatory affairs for Encompass Corporation, the KYC process automation firm, explains that this will not be the case in 2024.
“Generative AI represents an evolving concept that offers potentially exciting benefits to financial institutions.
“However, the overriding message is that generative AI will not replace KYC analysts now, or in the foreseeable future. It will instead accelerate existing processes and augment the work of analysts, empowering them to detect financial crime risk faster and more comprehensively.
“Maximum value will only be derived from generative AI if banks have already established robust digital and automated processes to optimise the quality of data collated and deliver deeper customer insights. By focusing on laying this groundwork now, banks will be well positioned to take full advantage of this new technology as it continues to evolve and mature.”
Complying with fintech regulations
Nima Montazeri, CPO of Liberis, an embedded finance platform, dives into how AI will navigate the minefield which is fintech regulations over the coming year: “Gen AI is poised to revolutionise the fintech industry through its widespread adoption, bringing about significant transformations across various sectors.
“One area that will experience a remarkable impact is customer service, where the integration of generative AI algorithms will serve to enhance the capabilities of human agents.
“By augmenting their abilities, gen AI will boost productivity levels and expedite the learning process. In fact, studies highlighted that with the assistance of gen AI, newly recruited call centre employees were able to acquire the equivalent of six months’ worth of experience in just two months on the job, showcasing the immense potential for accelerated skill development.
“Furthermore, compliance within the fintech sector will witness a new era of oversight facilitated by gen AI algorithms. Continuous audits of customer interactions, encompassing phone calls, emails, and other forms of communication, will be seamlessly conducted to ensure strict adherence to regulatory frameworks and industry standards. The utilisation of gen AI in this context will enable real-time.”
AI will spread its wings in 2024
Steve Morgan, global banking principal at Pegasystems, the low-code platform to adopt change, does not agree that AI will seen its ‘winter’ this year, rather it will be given room to grow providing it is done so in a safe way.
“Even though some are predicting an ‘AI winter’, or a slowdown in interest of generative AI, 2024 will actually be the year generative AI will be let out of its cage to spread its wings and show its true potential. Generative AI-driven agents can be relied on to do the heavy lifting, by creating and executing plans from start to finish.
“Even with generative AI evolving, a human will still need to be in the loop and be in control of the AI to ensure that it is working ethically and set clearly defined parameters for what the tool can and cannot do. Generative AI will be freer and be able to evolve, but there will still be controls on it to ensure that it is working in a safe way.”
More realistic and accurate outputs
Danny Butvinik, chief data scientist at NICE Actimize, the financial crime and compliance solution company, believes ethical guidelines will be an absolute necessity for generative AI to succeed in 2024.
“Generative AI models are expected to produce even more realistic and accurate outputs, whether in text, image, or other forms. This includes better context understanding and fewer errors. We expect advancements in allowing users more control and customisation options when generating content, leading to more tailored outputs. As generative AI becomes more powerful, it will be crucial to develop ethical guidelines and legal frameworks to govern its use.”
