AI has been part of industry conversations for long enough for the expression “garbage in, garbage out” to be a well-known point. This technology is only as objective as the information that it feeds on.

It might be supposed that artificial intelligence offers Olympian standards of objectivity and balance, but the reality is that biases can be absorbed and cascade through the system. As an example of the concerns, a paper by academics at , published in May last year, said that AI can also be freighted with gender bias: “Despite AI's potential to enhance sectors like healthcare, education, and business, it often mirrors reality and its societal prejudices, and can manifest itself through unequal treatment in hiring decisions, academic recommendations, or healthcare diagnostics, systematically disadvantaging women.”

What all this means is that while AI is a marvel and use cases multiply in sectors such as private banking and wealth management, users must think carefully about how they employ AI. Critical reasoning, alertness and curiosity among flesh-and-blood humans remain vital. 

These issues are front of mind for Shubhi Rao (pictured below), founder and CEO of in its annual study of performance of the UK sector, pointing to relatively low net organic growth once M&A activity is taken out. 

The stakes
Rao said the importance of ensuring that AI works for all sides of society is more important than ever. She noted how in May, for example, that Schwab's chief executive, Rick Wurster, said he sees AI becoming a front door for clients, including those below the $1 million needed for a dedicated advisor. This means that generative AI is about to sit between firms and a much larger group of clients. 

A Harvard Business School working paper drawing on more than 300,000 respondents estimates generative AI adoption at 47.8 per cent for men and 39.3 per cent for women.