Are banks ready to take on generative AI?

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The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has sparked both awe and apprehension among technology enthusiasts and the wider public alike. Generative AI, powered by deep learning algorithms and neural networks, has the remarkable ability to create original content. This ground-breaking technology holds immense potential for various industries, while also raising critical ethical and societal questions that demand our attention.

We know that AI and machine learning (ML) are fundamentally evolving industries and banking is no exception. The accessibility of ChatGPT and its ubiquity made GenAI and large language models—recent advances in deep learning models to work on human languages—a household topic and have demonstrated how it helps people, with no technical training, and perform various tasks in a fraction of the time it used to take them.

Here's a quick look at how banks can maximise the potential of generative AI.

Build partnerships

Banks should engage with the current development around AI chatbots, generative AI tools, large language models, responsible AI, and financial-specific transformer models, and build their own AI applications, adapt them, and integrate them into existing cloud solutions.

While many large language models are currently available, it takes time and know-how to successfully integrate such models within a highly regulated banking environment.

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Partnerships are important as it helps leverage the latest tools while also educating the providers of powerful tools on the strict regulatory requirements of the banking industry. For example, we are exploring faster risk calculations with financial services AI transformer models, the development of a virtual 3D avatar leveraging generative AI, and the use of large language models to gain insights from unstructured data—documents, emails, and text messages.

Reduce risk

There are limitless opportunities to train AI models properly, to provide better or new products and services to our clients. Regulatory-compliant AI-powered services have the potential to modernise the finance industry. The latest AI technologies and cloud computing scalability are enabling us to do more with less and faster. AI can help reduce the risk banks are exposed to by performing regulatory calculations faster and augmenting them with supplementary data to deal with additional variability, which rule-based systems cannot address.

Future-proof jobs

Increasingly, most manual tasks in every area of the global financial services industry will become automated. This general trend is as obvious as it is unavoidable. Generative AI will create many new jobs, demand a new set of skills, and reinvent the way we work. Generative AI will also make it easier to create low-code or no-code environments that will allow non-technical users to build and deploy apps. Also, it can perform several functions such as classifying, editing, summarising, answering questions, and drafting new content. Each of these has the potential to create new value by changing how work gets done. According to McKinsey, generative AI is creating an entire ecosystem, from hardware providers to application builders, to leverage its potential.

Get creative

When some of the simple tasks are automated, there is room for more creativity. Emerging technologies such as AI provide an opportunity to upskill jobs, making them more satisfying. For example, people will spend less time calculating numbers, but more time analysing the data. And it also enhances and authenticates how we advise our clients.

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Generative AI represents a paradigm shift in the way we approach creativity and innovation. It has the power to revolutionise industries, inspire human imagination, and shape our future. However, we must approach this frontier with caution, address the ethical dilemmas it presents, and work towards a balanced and responsible implementation. By harnessing the creative potential of generative AI while preserving the distinct qualities of human ingenuity, we can unlock a future that seamlessly integrates technology and human expression, leading to a more vibrant and enriched society.

The writer is MD and CEO of Deutsche India.