The pros and cons of AI in the finance industry

Over time technology has evolved and many businesses across the world are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to deal with the increase in customer demand. While there are a number of benefits for companies using AI, it does beg the question for businesses as to whether or not they could end up losing customers due to a lack of human connection, with people often left frustrated due to automated services that are unable to provide answers to their queries. 

Many industries such as healthcare, education, marketing and retail have already implemented AI in some way or another, whether it’s the use of an automated telephone system or using a chatbox on the company website. While AI may be of more use to some industries, there are ways other industries can learn to adapt its processes and gain a better understanding and insight into what consumers expect from their customer service.

A poll by CallCare asked 600 respondents what they really thought of AI. 93.5% said they would rather speak to an advisor than an automated system when they had a query, while 46.3% said they had experienced delays of more than 15 minutes. In this post we’re going to look at how AI has been implemented in the finance industry, as well as the pros and cons. 

How AI has benefited the finance industry

There’s no question that AI has had a big impact on the finance industry and there are many benefits to businesses implementing it. Companies within the finance sector aim to reduce risk conditions and businesses such as banks and financial institutions need to stay on top of fraud detection and management. Using AI can monitor past spending behaviours on various transactions, such as using a card in another country or an attempt to take out a large sum of cash. 

AI also allows people to manage their finances with the use of smart wallets which can monitor and track a user’s spending habits. The use of AI can help indicate when users are spending more than usual, and allow the user to restrain and change their personal finance spending. Many banks are also implementing this type of monitoring within their own banking apps to help their customers take control of their finances. 

The potential risks of AI

The main concern for many when it comes to AI, is the risk of job loss and reassignments. As AI increases productivity and carries out many tasks that once required a person to perform, this is likely to cause backlash from employees and could even result in resignations or businesses firing people because of inefficiency. 

The other issue that AI poses which we’ve mentioned was the dissatisfaction from customers. A lack of ‘human touch’ can result in reduced customer loyalty, as people are more likely to deter from using a company that only uses automated services, and businesses who fail to acknowledge this could end up losing valuable customers. 

So while there are definite benefits to implementing AI to evolve a business, it’s best to take on board any concerns customers may have and try to find a balance between using AI for certain processes and keeping people aside to deal with other aspects of the company. 

About the author

Janell R. Koehler

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