THE AI AND CHATBOT OPPORTUNITIES FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES LEADERSHIP

A recent PWC Study identified the following top sectors at potential high risk for automation:

• 63%    Water, sewage and waste management
• 56%    Transportation
• 46%    Manufacturing
• 44%    Wholesale and retail trade
• 32%    Finance and insurance
• 32%    Public administration and defence
• 32%    Electricity and gas supply

However, the study states that the impact upon these sectors vary considerably by country in terms of probability of losing jobs:

• 38%    USA
• 35%    Germany
• 30%    UK
• 21%    Japan

What these types of studies don’t show is the way ‘revolution in conversation’ will fundamentally transform sectors and the way we think about work.

One perspective, for example, is Call Centres. Knowledgable chatbots, which are emerging in sectors such as finance, health, law and other complex subjects especially around governance, policies and regulation, are very good at increasing self-service, self-sufficiency and upskilling (now being called the extended mind). This will change governments, industries and practices and as an example could lead to the relocation of call centre jobs back to the nation state, with the USA and UK being primary beneficiaries.

In the financial services sector, according to Angel List, there are more than 15,000 finance startups working to actively disrupt finance, many of them utilizing artificial intelligence and other forms of automation. There is no doubt that such intensity of AI will lead to job losses in this sector. This has been well reported.

But, the big benefit of new forms of automation is the transformation to a new competitive state. This will lead to greater innovation by bringing more customizable products to market in shorter time frames, across more channels and with greater international reach than ever before. A new level of personalization capabilities will drive added value to new heights. As the change cycles start to implode the opportunities and ‘conversational moments’ will increase.

The sector that will change and create more jobs due to AI and Chatbots will be the healthcare sector. Why? Here are some facts:

• US$6.5 trillion spent on healthcare worldwide
• USA spends 44% of the world’s health budget for 4.4% of the world’s population, even though 50m Americans are within the healthcare poverty zone
• 7.5 billion people in the world are supported by only 8m medical doctors
• The top 1.5 billion people are supported by 50% of the medical doctors
• The bottom 1.5 billion people are supported by 2% of the medical doctors 

The  health sector, looking at it on a global basis, is so bad the ‘revolution in conversation’ where 7.5 billion are supported by a blended work force of chatbots and human specialists is needed now. This is not a technology nor knowledge issue. It is more of a financial investment and leadership issue for a new generation of ‘worldwide healthcare economics’ to counter the severe market fragmentation and the deep entrenchment of the status quo. Finance and healthcare are intrically linked from a socioeconomic perspective, but AI and Chatbots are blurring the lines much further.