Building human-centered AI for financial services starts with trust

By Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer of Unconventional Ventures

The pandemic has disrupted millions of lives around the world. It also gave many organizations the opportunity to rethink their strategy and modernize their technology stack.   

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prominent in the corporate world, how do we ensure that human well-being is prioritized when we adopt and accelerate the deployment of such powerful technology, especially within the financial services industry where trust is paramount? How do we develop technology in a responsible way while continuing to innovate? And what do we need to be mindful of as we rethink customer experience in this new normal?  

Taking a human-centered approach to trustworthy AI

Perhaps, we can take cues from the recent IBM Data and AI Virtual Forum for FSS (access the sessions here). According to Seth Dobrin, Global Chief AI Officer at IBM, there are three main principles to consider: 

• Ethics at the core; 
• Governed data and AI tech;
• Open and diverse ecosystem.

The technology, tools, and processes that monitor and maintain the trustworthiness of data and AI solutions must be rooted on ethical principles. At its core, the purpose of AI is to augment humans, and must be accessible to all — not just a privileged few. To ensure transparency and compliance, organizations must be able to direct and monitor their AI and validate that the outcomes of these processes are fair and working as intended. 

Beyond ethics and governance, organizations also need to reinforce a culture of diversity and inclusion. As innovators, we have a shared responsibility to ensure that our teams mirror the richness in diversity of the demographics that we serve, so that our solutions will be more inclusive of the needs of our greater society.

Putting AI into practice

To unlock the power of AI, innovating with data must become one of the key strategic initiatives for any financial institutions of this digital era. 

A great example comes from Regions Bank, a Fortune 500 financial institution and one of the largest full-service providers of consumer and commercial banking, wealth management, and mortgage products and services in the United States.

Operationalizing AI in a repeatable, sustainable, and trusted manner is not a small task, especially in a highly regulated industry fraught with legacy systems and siloed data. With a thoughtful and methodical approach to technology deployment, Regions Bank has embarked on a journey to build trusted AI solutions to help reduce risk, detect fraud, and deliver delightful customer experiences. According to Manav Misra, Chief Data and Analytics Officer of Regions Bank, not only has his organization been able to reduce fraud by 50%, they are also able to leverage the data to identify customers who are likely to churn, and those who are facing financial stress, enabling the bank staff to help the customers in need in the most effective manner. 

Similarly, in Canada, CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) is able to integrate AI capabilities into existing workflows to better meet changing customers needs while remaining competitive in an uncertain environment. According to Sarah Kirzinger, Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation at CIBC, since deployment last November, their virtual assistant has attracted over 158,000 unique users, generating a quarter million conversations from bill payment to funds transfer, and assistance with other products and services. Such tools have proven to be extremely useful when financial institutions worldwide experienced a surge in both digital banking users and an increased call center volume due to COVID-19.  

In both of these two use cases, the teams recognized the value of using data and algorithms to inform a path forward — to augment, not replace, human capabilities. It was apparent that the success of this partnership rested heavily on trust: the assurance that machines had learned enough to produce trustworthy results that could be used to guide decision making, and to create fair outcomes for customers and beyond. Trust was at the heart of this technology.  

Understanding the language of business

Our shared experiences in the past year have shown us how connected we are as businesses, and as a human species. As we rebuild and transform, and as we deploy and scale technology solutions to help us thrive, we must not forget our collective humanity.

Ethics and equity must be included in everything we build. What problem are we trying to solve? Who are we solving it for? As we weave the next chapter of human progress, we have the power, and the obligation, to ensure that we are doing so responsibly — to emerge both stronger and as one.