https://www.forbes.com/sites/michalgromek/2019/06/26/european-commission-releases-new-recommendations-for-ai-investments/#74a4d2aa5fbd

As Know-Your-Customer (KYC)  and Anti Money Laundering (AML) requirements have been voted up unsurprisingly as key ‘pain-points’ of the European Financial Industry by more than half of the delegates of the recent European Banking Association Days in Stockholm.

Similar to the narrative of discussions facilitated at the same time during the Copenhagen Fin tech Week, Artificial Intelligence (AI) remained at the centre of discussion listed as a potential holy-grail that might both increase the efficiency of KYC, AML and decrease the friction for the customers.

As digital transformation has been compared to changing tiers, while the car is still running, there are significant needs to not directly focus on the technology but rather on the effect what it enables and risks it brings.

As AI and its usability in Finance remains a novel phenomenon, a group called 'High-Level Experts on AI' under the umbrella of the European Commission has already in April released Ethics Guidelines, including an assessment list, consisting of seven key requirements that AI solutions should meet in order to be deemed ‘trustworthy’- which can be found here. It includes not only the definition of AI but also a display possibility for the end user to understand transparency, accountability or human oversight.

 Nathalie Smuha, the coordinator of the independent High-Level Expert Group on AI, stated in an interview that as different players desire to participate in the race towards the AI revolution, it remains vital to assess who should take responsibility and accountability to ensure the minimization of potentially harmful risks caused by AI systems.

Instead of waiting for the EU Member States to take a decision on which level AI should be regulated, today the High-Level Expert Group has released a set of policy and investment recommendations for policymakers that desire to boost AI’s uptake in the different Member States and regulate its risks 

In High-Level Expert Group opinion the public funding should be directed into one of the eleven focus areas:

Empower and protect humans and society

Take up a tailored approach to the AI landscape

Secure a Single European Market for Trustworthy AI

Enable AI ecosystems through Sectoral Multi-Stakeholder Alliances

Foster the European data economy

Exploit the multi-faceted role of the public sector

Strengthen and unite Europe’s research capabilities

Nurture education to the Fourth Power

Adopt a risk-based governance approach to AI and ensure an appropriate regulatory framework

Stimulate an open and lucrative investment environment

Embrace a holistic way of working, combing a 10-year vision with a rolling action plan

The full report has been just released on the European Commission’s website.