The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment is hoping to improve education around AI, ethics and bias in financial services over the coming months.
Speaking at the F&TRC’s conference today (July 10), Tracy Vegro, chief executive of the CISI, said the ethics of AI had several dimensions to it, and applied to every sector within financial services.
She told delegates the Institute’s AI certification programme had been “our fastest-growing launch product ever”, with more than 5,000 applicants within months of launching.
The success of this has meant the body is now talking to other professional bodies and companies to work out how the programme can be given to members of other financial services organisations and accrediting bodies.
Waiting for something to happen is not a good idea.
Vegro said the next steps for the CISI would be to work with all these other bodies and with companies across the world to look at the issues surrounding bias, ethics and cyber resilience.
She said: “All these issues and more are being faced by professionals in a day-to-day capacity, so we are looking at how to broaden this out.
“How do I use our international global network? How do I react to the fact that people in 55 countries want to take the UK’s AI modules, and what does this tell me about how financial services is changing?”
She added that the engagement and adoption of AI solutions, and the development of standards, was vital to address.
“We cannot wait. We may at some point have a new AI regulator, and the regulatory landscape may change, but waiting for something to happen is not a good idea.
“I stand by the old mantra – try something as soon as you can, fail fast, and learn.”
Gold standards
Vegro said members in other countries were looking to the UK for guidance on standards.
“They see us as the gold standard, and to maintain that gold standard, you need to be continually innovating.
“Waiting is never a good idea – although neither is going lock, stock and barrel into one direction. The profession needs to be open-minded and constantly innovating.”
According to the CISI, the AI qualification has also been its most internationally demanded programme.
She added: “This goes beyond regulations and wherever AI rules are going to be, but addresses the ethics of how you want to work as a first-class adviser.
“Everything about the financial planning lifecycle, cyber security, who has our data, how to keep ourselves secure – all these things are touched on in our module.”
The importance of security and eliminating bias
Also at the conference, Chris Morris, head of financial planning at the CISI, took delegates through its learning platform and the certificate in ethical AI.
As part of one of the Battle of the Tech sessions, Morris discussed the accrediting body’s professional assessment on the fundamental ethical and management issues in the deployment of AI in financial services.
The CISI has over 50,000 members across 116 different countries, many of whom take exams and carry out ongoing learning.
“A lot of the learning we develop is mapped across things such as the Financial Services Skills Commission’s reports, so it is relevant”, he said.
