Can't Stop, Won't Stop

If there is any doubt, I love AI!

I am truly fascinated by the capabilities of AI and the prospects for the future can be head spinning. The potential of AI promises a golden age of opportunities for humanity and is poised to transform the way we live and work. I think we finally have the tools to springboard innovation within financial services. (It can also help you create slightly creepy images for your posts like the one above!)

But one thing I become slightly frustrated with is when I read comments in the FS press around how AI can’t or won’t replace human interaction between clients and advisers. This feels like underestimating the power of AI, potentially to the profession’s detriment. Now obviously can't and won't are two different things. While 'can't' focuses on the technical ability, 'won't' delves into choice and preference. Taking a strong stance that it'll be exclusively one or the other might be lacking perspective.

It can’t – oh but it can!

Let's take the ‘can’t’ argument first. Let’s be clear, AI possesses the capacity—or, more precisely, will acquire the ability—to replicate human interaction.

AI has already demonstrated its potential to replicate various facets of human interaction, including emotional intelligence and the understanding of human behaviour. The AI models we see today boast higher IQs than Einstein. Experts believe each iterative increases the intelligence by 10x, which in a short space of time will catapult these models into a realm of intelligence that far exceeds our measly human capacity. AI models will be able to learn emotions. They’ll likely understand emotions which we've never experienced or contemplated.

Think about it for a moment, when we discuss human interaction, we consider elements like body language, spoken words, sentiment, and tone of voice. These are all things that we as humans learn from birth. It’s hardly a stretch to believe that super intelligent AIs can also learn these.

AI has already showcased its ability to analyse and interpret emotional tones within conversations through sentiment analysis. Additionally, AI is evolving to understand and interpret emotions displayed through facial expressions. The technology is here and ever evolving.

But it won’t…will it?

AI's inability to replicate human interaction is not the current bottleneck, it’s the ‘won’t’ - our societal hesitance to replace human interaction. We value human experts in matters of emotions and empathy. However, as I’ve written about before, I see there being a tipping point of trust. A point at which we trust the outputs of an AI as much as we do a human expert.

As someone pointed out to me the other day, trust built in AI in other sectors could pave the way for trust in AI-driven financial advice. If we think about medicine and medical diagnosis. It's already recognised this is a field where AI will likely have the most immediate long term impact and where trust is likely to be built first. Once we trust our health to AI it feels inevitable that trust will transfer to other ‘emotional’ aspects such as our money. Not immediately but inevitably.

Predicting the timeline for these changes is a topic of ongoing debate. The commonly mentioned 10 to 15-year timeline seems too distant given the rapid pace of change witnessed in the last 12 months. I believe the trust early adopters will emerge within the next three to five years, followed by the early majority within five to seven years. What the technology will look like at this point is still unknown and there are other challenges it will need to overcome - such as data quality - but I think the trust tipping point is not that far away.

When the internet was first invented and introduced for public use, many people underestimated its potential to transform lives and jobs. Some saw it as a novelty or a niche tool, they failed to see the extent to which it would revolutionise virtually every aspect of modern society. Today, the internet is an integral part of our daily lives, profoundly impacting how we work, connect with others, access information, and conduct business, so it will be with AI.

So the facts tell us that to think AI ‘can’t’ replace human interaction is wrong. However, the debate on ‘won’t’ is less clear cut but I believe it is a mathematical inevitability, given we’ve opened Pandora's box, the speed of evolution of the technology and our insatiable thirst for progress.

Embracing the inevitable future.

I may get some criticism for frequently emphasising the downsides of AI. However, as mentioned at the outset of this piece, I’m a huge believer in AI.

I firmly believe we can fundamentally change the way we approach our lives today, with the hope that it will positively influence our future. The future is rapidly evolving, and we should ensure we are ready to adapt and maximise the benefits that AI offers.

In embracing AI's potential, our focus should be on leveraging this incredible technology to improve client understanding, address their emotional needs, enhance outcomes for both clients and advisers, reduce risks, and increase efficiencies in our businesses.

However, we must also acknowledge and prepare for the inevitability of AI's role in reshaping our profession and our roles in it.