Expert Insights on Finance’s Future
Industry leaders share perspectives on AI transformation and digitalization in financial services
On April 5th, 2023, WIZ.AI hosted a live webinar featuring four thought leaders discussing AI transformation and digitalization in the finance industry. Furthermore, the session explored how artificial intelligence drives business evolution and shapes the future of financial services.
Moderated by Yusi Chen, Vice-President of GGV Capital, this hour-long discussion gathered insights from AI Singapore‘s Senior Director Leslie Teo, Advance Intelligence Group‘s Chief Technology Officer Zhen Wang, and WIZ.AI’s Chairman and co-founder Jianfeng Lu.
AI Transformation Trends in Finance and Digital Innovation
Global financial markets face ongoing volatility, yet longstanding trends continue to reshape the industry. Consequently, fintech companies must navigate rapidly developing technology to maintain relevance.
Teo observes that while fintech companies disrupted traditional banking, new solutions may eventually challenge current fintech leaders. Additionally, the cycle of AI transformation and digitalization accelerates as emerging technologies create fresh competitive landscapes.
Digital Compliance and AI Implementation Challenges
Wang identifies regulatory compliance as critical for financial institutions. Moreover, stricter policies around data privacy, security, and jurisdiction directly impact AI and language model deployment.
Financial institutions increasingly develop proprietary language models rather than relying on solutions from tech giants like Google Bard or OpenAI ChatGPT. Furthermore, Wang anticipates greater adoption of open-source models like Meta’s LLaMa and Stanford’s Alpaca.
AI-Human Collaboration in Digital Transformation
Lu emphasizes that AI transformation and digitalization accelerate as businesses position themselves to adopt new solutions. Meanwhile, key development hurdles include model accuracy, data security, and response times.
Currently, humans support and guide AI systems effectively. However, when voice bots fail to respond appropriately, human agents intervene. Subsequently, humans oversee AI output, checking results and updating models as needed.
Building AI Partnership Models for Digitalization
WIZ.AI employs correction systems that enable CX designers to update bots quickly and enhance data accuracy. Therefore, this human-AI collaboration model supports continuous improvement.
Teo envisions AI solutions becoming teammates rather than mere tools. Specifically, the vision positions AI as genuine workplace collaborators, contributing input like human colleagues.
However, AI remains error-prone, limiting applications. For instance, solutions like ChatGPT can impress users while providing incorrect information convincingly. Nevertheless, AI reliability remains questionable for critical applications.
AI Singapore’s Role in Regional Digital Development
AI Singapore enables ecosystem development for AI technology advancement. Additionally, the organization invests in research and builds AI research capabilities across industries including healthcare.
Training and Governance in AI Transformation
AI Singapore operates apprenticeship programs, training AI engineers and deploying them to companies for six-month internships. Furthermore, the organization also focuses on AI governance and ethics.
As a capacity-building entity, AI Singapore serves govtech, healthcare, and defense industries. In particular, their largest project involves developing Southeast Asian large language models (LLMs).
Moreover, AI Singapore aims to represent Southeast Asia voices in AI models, partnering with companies like WIZ.AI to address gaps left by GPT-4’s Western-focused training data.
Future Outlook: AI and Digital Language Models
Chen expresses optimism about vertical industry applications, including healthcare-specific and banking-specific language models. Notably, open-source LLMs make industry-specific models attainable.
Bloomberg exemplifies this trend with BloombergGPT, built specifically for investment industry applications. Indeed, this demonstrates how specialized AI drives targeted digital transformation.
Managing AI Development Acceleration
All panelists remain optimistic about the future of AI. Specifically, Teo notes GPT-4’s sparks of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), considered the holy grail of AI development.
Industry leaders like Elon Musk call for development pauses in AI, but Wang considers this futile and counter-productive. Ultimately, technology advancement appears inevitable.
Wang emphasizes that governments and regulators must accelerate guardrail development to manage AI risks effectively. Similarly, Teo agrees, noting that AI risks primarily stem from human usage patterns.
Rapid Innovation Cycles in Digital Solutions
Lu observes accelerating development pace in AI innovation. Previously, monthly updates became bi-weekly, then weekly occurrences.
This rapid pace challenges startup founders to maintain currency with developments. However, entrepreneurs must focus on the bigger picture: helping humans live better, more productive lives.
Therefore, AI solutions providers play crucial roles in helping people learn to use AI and new technologies effectively, supporting broader digital transformation goals.
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