Deep-dive into the world of AI from a FinTech Lens

AI has reached has finally reached its tipping point.
“The technology has finally reached its tipping point, AI, and its close relative machine learning, have taken a variety of industries by storm, bringing self-driving Ubers to the streets of San Francisco (and then carting them away); robotic vacuum cleaners to dirty household floors; and natural language processing to chat bots and IVR communications. With AI already embedded into these industries, it’s easy to find examples of how the technology is shaping fintech.” — A Fintech Filter for Artificial Intelligence in 2017 by Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz)

The goal of AI is not to replace the human in the first place, but rather to remove the repetitive and time-consuming robot-like tasks from the stack and to empower the insurer to be more human again.
“To make reliable predictions AI needs, apart from a clearly formulated question, are masses of clean data to learn from, highlighting another challenge for insurers, namely data quality, privacy issues and the integration into legacy systems. It is easy to let these challenges cloud our sight for the opportunities that lie ahead. With AI we can automate major parts of the process. The goal is not to replace the human in the first place, but rather to remove the repetitive and time-consuming robot-like tasks from the stack and to empower the insurer to be more human again.” — Artificial Intelligence: the new kid in town by Insurers.AI

Even though AI feels like it’s going mainstream, consumers don’t yet fully trust it.
“Artificial intelligence is booming. The success of Amazon Echo and Google Home smart speakers show there is a healthy appetite for AI assistance. Autonomous, self-driving cars are in being tested by the likes of Google and Tesla. AI-powered platforms such as IBM Watson and Wipro Holmes are able to diagnose cancer, analyze retail data, and communicate through ordinary spoken and written language. But even though AI feels like it’s going mainstream, consumers don’t yet fully trust it. A study of more than 12,000 people in 11 countries reveals that people aren’t quite ready to surrender control to silicone and microchips. Research reveals a lack of understanding and trust in fintech that is stalling mainstream adoption of innovative new services which could make millions of people’s daily lives simpler and more secure.” — Rise of the Machines? Consumers Say They Don’t Trust Financial AI By Jeffry Pilcher

The real threat of artificial intelligence is not a cyborg armageddon but unprecedented economic inequalities and even altering the global balance of power.
“Too often the answer to this question resembles the plot of a sci-fi thriller. People worry that developments in A.I. will bring about the “singularity” — that point in history when A.I. surpasses human intelligence, leading to an unimaginable revolution in human affairs. These are interesting issues to contemplate, but they are not pressing. They concern situations that may not arise for hundreds of years, if ever. At the moment, there is no known path from our best A.I. tools (like the Google computer program that recently beat the world’s best player of the game of Go) to “general” A.I. — self-aware computer programs that can engage in common-sense reasoning, attain knowledge in multiple domains, feel, express and understand emotions and so on. This doesn’t mean we have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, the A.I. products that now exist are improving faster than most people realize and promise to radically transform our world, not always for the better. They are only tools, not a competing form of intelligence. But they will reshape what work means and how wealth is created, leading to unprecedented economic inequalities and even altering the global balance of power. Or to put the matter more optimistically: A.I. is presenting us with an opportunity to rethink economic inequality on a global scale. These challenges are too far-ranging in their effects for any nation to isolate itself from the rest of the world.” — The Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence by By Kai-Fu Lee

Originally published at FinTech Summary.