The United States Treasury is gearing up for a wave of risks and opportunities stemming from the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) in the years ahead. This was the central theme of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s keynote address at the Conference on artificial intelligence and financial stability, organized by the U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) in collaboration with the Brookings Institution on June 6-7.
According to FSOC, this marks the first time in a decade that the council has convened an event of this kind. Secretary Yellen used her address to issue a formal call to action, inviting public comments on the potential risks and benefits associated with AI from financial institutions, consumers, and other stakeholders with a vested interest in U.S. financial stability.
Yellen highlighted a number of significant opportunities for financial institutions leveraging AI, such as enhanced cybersecurity, more precise forecasting and predictions, as well as improved customer service and account management. Nevertheless, she acknowledged that the rapidly evolving nature of the field presents new challenges that need to be addressed. Referring to the “tremendous opportunities” and “significant risks” posed by AI technologies, Yellen emphasized that there is much work to be done.
Among the risks identified by Yellen were concerns about the centralization of AI models and data, which could potentially expose multiple market institutions to a single point of failure. She also raised the issue of AI’s potential to perpetuate or exacerbate bias due to the opaque nature of many models.
In other news, U.S. antitrust enforcer Jonathan Kanter has announced an investigation into the AI sector over monopoly concerns. Kanter’s investigation will focus on various components of the AI technology stack and whether a few companies control crucial chokepoints in the development process. Key areas of interest include Microsoft’s dominance in the cloud computing market and Nvidia’s stronghold in the AI chipset market.