Introduction
On 29 March 2021 various federal agencies(1) issued a request for information (RFI) from financial institutions, trade associations, consumer groups and other stakeholders on the financial industry’s use of AI. The RFI seeks insight into:
- the industry’s use of AI in the provision of financial services to customers; and
- appropriate AI governance, risk management and controls.
In recent years regulators have highlighted financial institutions’ and technology firms’ growing use of AI and machine learning. However, the RFI is the federal agencies’ most coordinated effort to understand AI’s potential benefits and risks to date. It follows Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard’s January 2021 speech, which previewed the potential for additional “supervisory clarity” in this area.
Risks and rewards
The RFI acknowledges AI’s importance to the industry and its customers, including in:
- the flagging of unusual transactions;
- the personalisation of customer services;
- credit decision making;
- risk management;
- textual analysis (ie, the handling of unstructured data to obtain insight or improve the efficiency of existing processes); and
- cybersecurity.
The RFI also notes…
