Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services – Need to Blend Automation with Human Touch

Artificial Intelligence is the latest in the series of disruptions manifested by computer science. AI has been rapidly transforming the dynamics of banking and financial services industry also. The established and emerging capabilities of AI are being combined, reconstituted and re-formulated in unexpected ways and are throwing up new opportunities and new challenges but at the same time posing new threats also. Apart from the ethico-neutral character of technology and its attendant threats like cyber-crimes and macro-financial risks, a major question to be inquired into is its sustainability as it tends to replace humans and the related personal touch which most often is the essence of financial services industry thriving on the art of customization and customer delight. The instant paper attempts to examine relatively under-explored perspective of AI replacing humans in the space of banking and financial services and unmindfully heralding the flight of personal touch and service customization which are the cornerstone of customer satisfaction and delight in industries like banking and financial services known for their fiduciary and responsible character.