- More than 8 in 10 Compliance Professionals Believe that AI Act Compliance Will Fall Within Their Remit
Almost four in ten (37pc) organisations in Ireland’s financial services sector have adopted AI tools for core work processes to some degree.
The survey conducted by the Compliance Institute, the professional body for compliance specialists examined the adoption of AI by Ireland’s financial services industry and the knowledge across the industry of the recently approved EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act[1], which is the first of its kind in the world. The findings of the survey were published in conjunction with the Compliance Institute’s Annual Dinner, which took place earlier this month in Dublin.
In March 2024, the EU Parliament approved the AI Act, through which the use of artificial intelligence in the EU will be regulated. Non-compliance with the Act’s provisions could result in hefty fines ranging from €7.5m to €35m depending on the severity of the infringement and the company’s size.
Insights gathered from the poll of 175 compliance professionals primarily employed in financial services organisations across Ireland, also found that while 37pc are actively trialling and/ or using AI tools for their core work processes, six in ten (60pc) say they are not employing AI tech “so far” and just 3pc of those asked do not believe that their organisation will be using it in the near future.
The vast majority (87pc) of survey participants believe, to varying degrees, that adherence to the AI Act will fall within the remit of the responsibilities of Compliance Professionals in organisations, though because the Act has only recently been approved, nine in ten (93pc) compliance professionals say that as yet, they have little to no knowledge of its details.
President of the Compliance Institute Seamus Canning commented,
“For the compliance professional AI will present some interesting challenges. The technology behind the machine will need to be understood, regulated and controlled to protect the organisation and the customers. The compliance professional will need to be able to explain how this technology works. They need to be able answer the regulator’s questions. Equally the regulator needs to understand the answer. Bridging these two areas will need to be part of our future educational landscape.”
Michael Kavanagh, CEO of Compliance Institute spoke of the findings,
“The results show that the infiltration of AI in financial service organisations has slowly but surely started, and that this momentum is expected to increase. And most organisations are making the right moves to assimilate this new tech into their business. 70pc of those we asked to say that their organisation is either in the midst of or, developing or planning to develop governance frameworks and protocols to adopt AI – and 7pc of these have implemented this framework already”.
“Given that it was only recently approved, it is understandable that a high portion of respondents confirmed that they don’t have a comprehensive understanding of the AI Act. It is now essential for professionals to upskill with regard to AI and the requirements of the new Act. In that context, the Compliance Institute has launched its Certified Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act Short Course which will go some way to meet this demand”.
Mr. Canning concluded by saying,
“There is a huge amount of money being pumped into AI as we can see from the media generally. At some stage, someone will want this back. This may be in the form of reduced costs which translates to less staff or new opportunities with the benefits enjoyed by all.
We need to remember the huge benefits that social media brought with it in the beginning, but in many ways has now become toxic to a degree. This toxicity was not envisaged at the dawn of social media, so it begs the question - what will be the unintended consequences of AI?”
