The excitement around artificial intelligence is off the charts! 🌐 From detecting fraud to catching money launderers, AI is already a game-changer in the financial world. But here's the tea: European banks are getting a bit nervous about how much they’re leaning on Big Tech for all this AI magic. 😬
Since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022 (you've probably played around with it yourself!), banks have been scrambling to figure out how to use generative AI. But at a recent fintech meetup in Amsterdam, some big shots voiced concerns about the massive computing power needed to keep up with AI developments. And guess who has all that power? Yep, the tech giants. 🏢💻
Bahadir Yilmaz, ING's chief analytics officer (the cool kid in charge of AI at the Dutch bank), told us: \"We're going to rely on Big Tech companies more and more going forward.\" Why? Because the \"machine power\" needed is just too huge for banks to handle solo. 🚀
He also dropped a cautionary note: depending too much on a few tech providers is \"one of the biggest risks.\" European banks especially need to dodge what's called \"vendor lock-in\" – that's when you're stuck with one provider and can't switch easily. Talk about being tied down! 🔗
Meanwhile, over in the UK, regulators are starting to sweat. Last year, Britain proposed new rules to keep an eye on financial firms' heavy reliance on external tech companies like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Amazon. The fear? If one cloud computing company crashes, it could drag down services across many banks. Yikes! 🌩️⚠️
Joanne Hannaford, who heads up tech strategy at Deutsche Bank's corporate bank, chimed in at the Money20/20 conference: \"AI requires huge amounts of compute, and really the only way you're going to be able to access that compute sensibly is from Big Tech.\" In other words, banks might be stuck between a rock and a hard place. 🤷♀️
So what's the takeaway for us? As AI continues to explode in the finance world, banks are walking a tightrope between innovation and over-reliance on tech giants. Will they find a balance, or are we looking at a future where Big Tech and Big Banks are more intertwined than ever? Stay tuned! 🧐✨
Reference(s):
Banks say growing reliance on Big Tech for AI carries new risks
cgtn.com
