The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance (AoF), released a new Applied Research report, titled “Financial Services in the Era of Generative AI: Facilitating Responsible Adoption”.
This report provides an overview of the evolution of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) and its broader implications for both the financial services industry and financial regulators. The report draws on the findings from a survey and interviews that gathered the views of market participants on the current state of GenA.I. adoption among local financial institutions, the expected trajectory of GenA.I. development in Hong Kong, and the strategies employed for risk management and talent development.
The report finds that the adoption of GenA.I. is progressing steadily across the financial services industry in Hong Kong, with 75% of the surveyed financial institutions have already implemented at least one GenA.I. use case, or are currently piloting and designing use cases and exploring potential investment areas. This ratio is expected to increase to 87% within the next three to five years.
There are challenges hindering adoption, including concerns regarding model accuracy, data privacy and security, as well as constraints related to resources and talent. However, the emergence of less resource-intensive models and maturing technology, coupled with regulatory engagement, are likely to contribute to the broadening of GenA.I. adoption over time. Based on these findings, the report outlines some considerations aimed at facilitating responsible GenA.I. adoption by the financial services industry in Hong Kong.
“We hope that the findings of this report can help inform best practices for addressing GenA.I. adoption challenges in the financial services industry, and contribute to discussions on responsible innovation and adoption, as well as industry-wide capacity building,” said Mr Enoch Fung, Chief Executive Officer of the AoF and Executive Director of the HKIMR.
Darryl Chan, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said: „Most of the financial institutions are still in the early stages of adoption, with a primary focus on improving operational efficiency through, for example, internal chatbots and coding. The potential of GenA.I. to perform human-like tasks makes it an attractive candidate for wider adoption in customer-facing functions, such as customer chatbots, customised product development and delivery, targeted sales and marketing, and robo-advisors in wealth management and insurance. As financial institutions use more GenA.I. tools in customer-facing activities, the implications on consumer protection need to be properly addressed.„
Also, „Trust must be the very foundation of the financial sector. The adoption of GenA.I. should not compromise the customer-centric culture that underpins this trust. (…) During the early stage of deploying GenA.I. applications, banks are expected to adopt the „human-in-the-loop” approach. Customers should be given the option to „opt out” and request human intervention on decisions generated by GenA.I.„
Darryl Chan continues: „Just as AI models need to be trained, so do the financial institutions. For this purpose, the HKMA has introduced a GenA.I. Sandbox, designed to support the development, testing and pilot of innovative AI and GenA.I.-based solutions in the banking sector. The sandbox is our joint effort with the Cyberport, providing banks with targeted supervisory feedback and computing power. It enables banks to test and refine their GenA.I. applications in a risk-controlled environment, while allowing us as a regulator to provide guidance and share good practices on the adoption of GenA.I.”
The full report can be downloaded here
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The AoF is set up with full collaboration amongst the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission, the Insurance Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority. By bringing together the strengths of the industry, the regulatory community, professional bodies and the academia, it aims to serve as (i) a centre of excellence for developing financial leadership; and (ii) a repository of knowledge in monetary and financial research, including applied research.
The HKIMR is the research arm of the AoF. Its main remit is to conduct research in the fields of monetary policy, banking and finance that are of strategic importance to Hong Kong and the Asia region. The Applied Research studies undertaken by the HKIMR are on topics that are highly relevant to the financial industry and regulators in Hong Kong, and they aim to provide insights on the long-term development strategy and direction of Hong Kong’s financial industry.
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