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Finding value in generative AI for financial services

Also: Accenture’s Chief AI Officer Lan Guan on Why This Is a Defining Moment

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AI KATANA
November 27, 2023

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In this edition of our daily newsletter, we delve into a diverse range of AI applications across various sectors. Singapore's Changi Airport is trialing an AI system for faster, more accurate carry-on luggage screening, potentially speeding up security checks by 50%. The MIT Technology Review examines the growing use of generative AI in financial services, despite challenges like AI bias and regulatory hurdles. Chinese EV maker Nio plans to replace 30% of its workforce with AI and robots by 2027, aiming for increased efficiency and cost reduction. Accenture’s Chief AI Officer, Lan Guan, highlights the rapid integration and transformative impact of AI in business, including its use in tasks like summarizing meeting notes. Philips introduces new AI-enabled healthcare innovations at RSNA23, aiming to enhance radiology performance and reduce burnout among healthcare providers. In AI tools updates, Kheiron’s AI tool Mia shows a significant increase in breast cancer detection, promising to improve early detection and treatment. Finally, AI21, an enterprise AI systems company, raises $208 million in an oversubscribed Series C funding round, reflecting the burgeoning interest and investment in AI technologies.

Sliced:

  • 💴 Finding value in generative AI for financial services

  • ✈️ Singapore’s Changi Airport trialling AI to improve security screening for carry-on luggage

  • 🤖 Chinese EV maker Nio sees AI, robots replacing 30% of workforce by 2027 to improve efficiency, cut costs

  • 👩🏽‍💼 Accenture’s Chief AI Officer Lan Guan on Why This Is a Defining Moment

  • 🧑🏽‍⚕️ Philips launches new-AI enabled innovations at #RSNA23 that free up healthcare providers to focus on patient care

The MIT Technology Review article discusses the emerging role of generative AI in financial services, highlighting its rapid adoption and potential economic impact. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and DALLE-2 have quickly gained popularity, with ChatGPT being the fastest-growing consumer application in history. The technology could contribute significantly to the global economy, especially in banking. Currently, its use in financial services is mostly limited to automating repetitive tasks to reduce costs. Although there is extensive experimentation with more disruptive applications, such as asset selection and risk analysis, widespread commercial use is hindered by practical and regulatory challenges. Additionally, the sector faces obstacles like legacy technology, talent shortages, and inherent weaknesses in generative AI, including the need for bespoke training of models and concerns over AI bias and accountability.

Changi Airport in Singapore is currently trialling an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning system to enhance security screenings for carry-on luggage. This cutting-edge system aims to automatically detect prohibited items within carry-on bags. The initial results from the trial have been promising, showing that the AI-powered system is as effective as, or even superior to, human security screeners in identifying prohibited items. This technological advancement not only upholds high safety standards but also promises to expedite the screening process, potentially making security checks up to 50% faster. The system's ability to quickly process images and reduce the likelihood of human error further contributes to its efficiency and reliability in security screenings.

Nio, a prominent Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, is planning to replace 30% of its workforce with AI) and robots by 2027 to boost efficiency and cut costs. This strategic move follows a recent layoff of 10% of its staff, aiming to enhance competitiveness and efficiency. Nio is escalating its efforts to automate production, with plans to halve managerial positions as more AI technologies are integrated into its manufacturing processes. The company's Vice-President, Ji Huaqiang, expressed the goal of reducing reliance on skilled workers and technicians to save labor costs. He highlighted that if AI can make 80% of manufacturing decisions, it would allow for a 50% reduction in managerial positions by 2025.

In an interview with Time Magazine, Lan Guan, the Chief AI Officer at Accenture, discussed the transformative impact of AI in the business world. Guan, who is also a member of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, emphasized the democratization of AI technology. She noted the rapid integration of generative AI (GAI) into various business platforms since the launch of ChatGPT, leading to significant changes within months, rather than years. Guan shared her personal reliance on ChatGPT for research and its use at Accenture for tasks like summarizing meeting notes and drafting customer proposals. This reflects a broader trend in knowledge management, where generative AI parses and utilizes vast amounts of unstructured data in enterprises.

Philips, a global leader in health technology, recently announced new AI-enabled imaging innovations at RSNA23, the world's largest medical imaging conference. These innovations are designed to improve the performance of radiology departments, optimize workflows, and reduce procedure times, addressing the issue of burnout among radiologists, 45% of whom report symptoms. The new technologies include next-generation ultrasound systems, the world's first mobile MRI system with helium-free operations, and AI-enabled cloud solutions. These advancements aim to enhance diagnostic confidence, workflow efficiency, and clinical confidence.

🛠️ AI tools updates

The AI tool Mia, developed by UK-based company Kheiron, has significantly advanced breast cancer detection, as reported in a study published in Nature Medicine. Mia has demonstrated a remarkable ability to increase breast cancer detection by up to 13%, which could potentially halve the rate of missed cancers. This advancement translates to saving approximately 2,000 lives annually in the UK and 40,000 in the US. Mia's effectiveness was highlighted by its detection of early-stage cancers that were missed by radiologists. The AI system, used as an additional reader in breast cancer screening, showed a substantial increase in detection rates with minimal false positives. The deployment of Mia followed a structured approach, starting with a single-center pilot, expanding to a multicenter pilot, and culminating in a full live rollout, consistently demonstrating its efficacy. This integration of AI tools like Mia into clinical practices suggests a potential shift in the approach to early detection and treatment of cancer.

💵 Venture Capital updates

AI21, an enterprise AI systems company, recently completed a $208 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1.4 billion. This round included participation from new investors such as Intel Capital and Comcast Ventures, raising AI21's total capital to $336 million. AI21 Studio, the company's flagship platform, offers API access to developers and businesses for natural language processing (NLP) solutions using AI21’s language models, including Task-Specific Models and optimized Language Models (LLMs). These models are designed for various NLP tasks and are used by companies like Clarivate and One Zero digital bank for grounded question answering based on the organization's data.

🫡 Meme of the day

⭐️ Generative AI image of the day