Riding the Wave Of Artificial Intelligence in the Banking Sector

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ever since the term Artificial Intelligence was coined by John McCarthy, the field of Artificial Intelligence has moved through many phases. The subject of Artificial Intelligence actually predates personal computing, it all started with “an ancient wish to forge the gods.” As Pamela McCorduck would put it.

In 1950, Alan Toring, the English Mathematician published a paper in which he deduced the possibility of creating a machine that ‘thinks’. This laid the foundation for the Dartmouth College conference in 1956 during which John MacCathy; an Assistant Professor of Mathematics would suggest a name for the field of computer science that would focus on the ability of computer systems to simulate learnings.

Beyond the University Walls 
Today, advancement in AI has moved fast beyond the University walls into the business world and into our everyday lives. From the personal assistant on our mobile devices to the autonomous vehicles on the streets of San Francisco, AI is advancing it’s course in our spaces. However, experts in this field would argue that all we have seen so far still fall within what is called ‘Narrow AI”. Artificial Intelligence is the development of machines that would think and act as humans. We do not have anything near that today, but there is a possibility that in less than twenty years, we may have such machines that could be as intelligent or even more intelligent than humans.

Banking and AI 
The current wave of AI as we have seen, has not left any field untouched. AI is now a multibillion – dollar industry and will be a major contributor in GDPs of major economies of the world in just less than ten years. The Banking Industry has not lagged behind in this technology advancement. With the transformation of banking business from traditional to digital, banks now jump at any technology that could create opportunities for differentiation and deliver unique customer experience. As competition amongst banks get stiffer and customer’s needs and choices become more complicated, the winners are those that will be able to deliver personalised experience to their customers based on accurate analysis of data and deployment of intelligent solutions.

An extract from the INTO AFRICA April 2019 Edition: Envision Africa’s Digital Revolution. The article is written by Austine Abolusoro (Group Head Online Digital Banking, United Bank for Africa Plc Nigeria) and to read the full article, please download by clicking: INTO AFRICA PUBLICATION: APRIL 2019 EDITION.