The country director of Google Cloud Korea emphasized that trust is crucial for adopting artificial intelligence in the finance industry. While many financial firms are already investing in and using AI, he noted, these technologies can also introduce security risks. Therefore, building trustworthy AI systems is essential, he said.
Chi Ki-sung, Country Director at Google Cloud Korea, delivered the keynote speech “New Path for Finance in the AI Era” on Thursday at FISCON 2024, a financial information security conference hosted by the Financial Security Institute (FSI).
Chi noted that AI is gaining importance in the financial industry, with 41 percent of financial companies in the Asia-Pacific region now investing in generative AI. Half of these firms believe AI will become a key digital medium, highlighting the potential for financial technology and platform providers to leverage AI in delivering innovative services to customers.
The director explained that as AI technology progresses, financial services are becoming increasingly customer-centric. Financial firms are building AI platforms to offer personalized services and are creating converged offerings that blur the lines between finance and other industries.
Chi highlighted that the risks associated with AI have grown as financial firms adopt this emerging technology more actively. In particular, he warned that generative AI in financial services could misinform customers. The industry’s extensive use of big data also raises the risk of data breaches as information accumulates. Additionally, Chi stressed the need for the industry to address security challenges arising from the deregulation of network separation.
The director stated that Google Cloud developed its “Responsible AI” guidelines to address AI’s unpredictable and risky nature. Google Cloud poses a series of questions to ensure AI is designed to benefit people and is safe to deploy; any AI failing to meet these standards is not approved. The guidelines emphasize key principles: avoiding the creation or reinforcement of unfair bias, building and testing AI for safety, and incorporating privacy design principles.
“Trust is the most important factor when financial firms adopt AI, and we also prioritize trust in AI,” said Director Chi. “AI should never be used to harm or spy on people. There is ample opportunity within beneficial AI to improve human life. We need more people focused on creating trust-based, beneficial AI,” he added.
Related article: Financial Security Institute warns online investors of new scam: fraudulent online trading platforms
The Financial Security Institute (FSI) has issued a warning about online fraudsters perpetrating a new financial scam: exploiting simulated online trading and investment platforms to extort money from unsuspecting investors.
On Monday, the FSI, a government-affiliated organization responsible for safeguarding South Korea’s financial integrity, released a report detailing new investment scams that emerged in 2023 involving fraudulent online trading platforms.
According to the report, the scammers utilize fake online and mobile trading platforms to entice potential victims into investing money. They employ social media channels, such as chat rooms and YouTube live streaming, to promote what is known as a fraudulent Home Trading System, or HTS. To hook targets, the scammers promote fictional investment success stories, falsely claiming that current clients have already earned substantial profits through their trading systems, suggesting that the same is possible for others.
The report further explains that such fake trading systems are equipped with servers capable of gathering real stock market prices from actual financial institutions. This information is then manipulated to lure targets into giving up more money. Additionally, these fake trading platforms typically feature a screen capture function which operate unbeknownst to the victims. Scammers exploit this capability to mirror victims’ screens and leak their data. READ MORE
