Trust at the core of AI and banking

It was an absolute treat to spend time with our local ecosystem at DC Fintech Week —?a fantastic event organized by Chris Brummer .

As expected, there was a fair amount of discussion on artificial intelligence, as well as financial inclusion and digital assets. For those who weren't able to make it, you can watch the live stream and past content here on the DC Fintech Week website .

"Trust cannot be assumed," commented Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, when referring to questions around AI. "Who is responsible if something goes wrong?"

On the topic of financial inclusion, Miriam Cross 's post on fintech startup Totem is worth a read. Can neobanks that focus on a small but targeted segment of the underserved work?

I am reminded of Alex Acree 's comment at DC Fintech Week this morning on the need to do more to help the smaller banks get access to the technology and resources that they need to compete and serve customers.

What he said in the morning resonates deeply, especially given some of the stats from the latest EVIDENT AI Index, where JPM is leading in the rankings for a third consecutive year. In fact, "the bank is the only institution to place among the top-3 banks across every pillar of the methodology."

This is hardly surprising, since securing AI talent, training and upskilling existing talent, building new capabilities, and engaging in R&D all require time and resources.

Which brings me back to a question I've been pondering —?who will come out ahead in the AI-led future? The older big banks with deep war chest but likely more tech debt? Or the newer and smaller banks with more nimble and agile architecture?

What I am reading ...

[1] On trust and risks.

One of the recurring themes I've been hearing a lot, at the recent NVIDIA AI summit or this week's DC Fintech Week for example, has been around the duality of AI: The ability of the technology to do good, and the potential for misuse and harm. But just because there are risks doesn't mean you stop innovating; not using AI can be a risk as well.

As with any emerging technology, this risk landscape will keep evolving, as the technology becomes more sophisticated, and more widely adopted. For a highly regulated industry such as financial services, where trust is paramount and serves as the foundation of everything that we do, AI has potential to introduce additional risks around data privacy, bias, and ethics, and ultimately, regulations and reputation.

"In which industries are AI risks more concentrated, and where could they become more prevalent with time?" Here are some interesting findings from Swiss Re .

You can read the full report here .

[2] Good. But not perfect.

We have seen and likely used quite a few AI productivity tools, from creating summaries and transcripts, to those that detect if something is written by AI.

While some of these tools work well, they are far from perfect. In some cases where we need it to work 100% of the time, the results can be extremely emotionally draining for some.

Hint: Always keep humans in the loop. Think about who you are designing the solutions for, and the impact when it doesn't work as intended.

[3] On copyright and AI training.

The New York Times recently sent a cease and desist letter demanding that Perplexity AI stop accessing and using its content in AI summaries and other output.

As the debate around the use of copyrighted material to train AI continues, Penguin Random House became the first major publisher to update its copyright pages to reflect these new concerns.

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When we think about the future, what do we typically think about? Flying cars that allow us to zip around the city and through traffic? Virtual worlds that enable us to connect and collaborate regardless of where we are? A data-led workplace where autonomous AI agents handle the mundane tasks and make decisions for us? Or an algorithm-led life where every aspect of our journey is optimised?

To be future ready will require us to be not only data-ready, but empathy-enabled

For this year's Sibos , I wrote about the AI and the human-centric future of financial services. As always, thank you Paul Hindle and FinTech Futures for giving me the space to share my two cents.

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Are you heading to Money20/20 next week?

Drop me a note and catch the IBM team on stage. Stop by IBM's conference space in Meeting Room MR 2202.

Till then, tune in for a sneak preview. See you there!

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In this week's One Vision —?FinTech Fuse!

Join us as we dive into Georgia's booming fintech scene, where 80% of US payment transactions are processed. Atlanta, nicknamed "Transaction Alley," is the hub of this fintech revolution, handling more than half of the nation’s credit card processing.

In this episode of One Vision Podcast , we feature Laura Gibson-Lamothe , Executive Director of the Georgia Fintech Academy . Discover the evolution of fintech education and the Academy's focus on experiential learning, supported by partnerships with industry giants like BlackRock and U.S. Bank Elavon. Since its inception, the Academy has influenced over 8,000 students and sparked increased interest in the finance-tech intersection.

Learn about Laura’s global upbringing and its impact on her innovative perspective. Tune in for an insightful discussion that’s shaping the future of fintech!

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