The new compliance cottage industry surrounds artificial intelligence.  We are at such an early stage of AI development — companies are still figuring out how they can employ the technology.  Some industries, such as financial institutions, however, have been using AI for fraud detection and other issues.  I expect financial institutions will set the tone for much of compliance practices around AI.

There is no question that AI holds terrific promise.  The hype surrounding AI is just that — hype.  Until there is more certainty surrounding AI technology, I expect we will witness a lot of bloviating.  But this aside, corporate boards, senior executives and business developers need to pay attention until the dust settles.  The AI industry is moving so fast that the sooner we start to focus the nimbler our response will be.

A few issues we know for certain — AI can be a very productive tool.  It can easily end up reducing costs and increasing efficiency.  I do not share the doomsayers perspective that AI will result in job losses — I look at from a positive standpoint.  By making companies more efficient, the economy will expand and new opportunities will develop and growth will occur.  In my view, we are on the cusp of a huge economic jolt — positive, just like pre- to post-Internet days. As I always say — change can be good.

Like every aspect of a business, there are risks with any new technology and AI certainly presents risks that need to be mitigated.  This in turn leads to the necessary questions —

How should a company structure its AI risk and compliance program?

in this Episode, Michael Volkov reviews specific issues and questions surrounding AI risks and compliance issues.