'AI unlikely to replace jobs with more soft skills focus'

Of course, AI is not new. Alan Turing took the first steps towards AI in the 1940s, suggesting its use to play chess – an idea that dramatically came to fruition in 1997 when the IBM computer Deep Blue beat the then world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

What is new is the scale and sophistication of AI and the accessibility of AI systems. That is why AI has become so exciting, but also so frightening.

As director of learning at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, my focus is on our learners and the impact of AI on the mechanics of learning and assessment, of course, but more critically on the implications AI will have for what practitioners need to learn and the skills and competence they need to develop.

Employers, on the other hand, are interested in how AI can help them to do more and do it better.

The advice gap in the UK is well documented, and while AI will not – for now at least – solve this problem by itself, it helps.

At CISI we are already using AI to make our learning more attractive for members and to increase the security of our examinations. We are also using AI to make our learning more flexible, more accessible and more easily navigable.

The CISI’s new learning platform, launched on September 7, uses AI to individualise our learning offer.

Over time, it is able to use each member’s interests and usage of the system to build an understanding of their needs and preferences. This means that the offer is focused and recommendations tailored appropriately, enabling members to find what they need more quickly.

There is a common theme in our use of AI in CISI’s learning and assessment: it is being used to accelerate and augment human judgement and expertise, not to replace them.

Efficiency of AI

There is a similar approach to the current use of AI in financial planning firms: acceleration not replacement.  

Businesses are starting to think about AI and how it can be used to increase efficiency. Small to medium-sized founder-owned firms seem to be adapting faster, with larger management houses more cautious.

This may be because the risk-reward ratio is better for smaller organisations; the impact of any AI-driven error is easier to spot, and therefore manage, and so the potential reputation risk is smaller. 

The increased efficiency that AI can offer firms gives them the opportunity to increase their client capacity, which in the case of advisory services could enable them to help more people with their finances and planning for their future.

The advice gap in the UK is well documented, and while AI will not – for now at least – solve this problem by itself, it helps deliver a positive step forward.

Which brings us back to one of the central issues with AI: it cannot yet provide the ability to assess and respond to a complex situation or a dynamic set of circumstances, and that’s exactly where human financial planners add real value.

The other big issue with AI, and in my view the greatest risk, centres on ethics.

The 'behaviour' of the AI system is defined by the coders who develop the system and the users. They need to ensure that they instil not just the functionality, but also the appropriate values in the system, and that there is no possibility of those values being degraded by the machine or an adversarial AI machine.

Although governments are starting to address these issues through regulation, this will take time and have limited impact, so we need to educate ourselves appropriately.

CISI is currently working with a group of experts led by Michael Mainelli, chair of think tank Z/Yen Group, to develop digital learning that will help users understand and be alert to the ethical issues and risks around AI. 

But what about us? Does AI threaten our jobs? Is professional service employment destined to suffer the same downward pressures as its manufacturing counterparts during the 1980s? What do we need to do to stay ahead of the machines?

The talents that set us apart from AI are very much the human soft skills: critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. Of course, you need foundational knowledge and practical experience, without which no adviser can add much value, but the real differentiators are the higher level skills. 

Roles requiring core knowledge and understanding and the ability to deal with simple situations will increasingly be replaced by AI.

No one knows what AI will ultimately be capable of, but for now, those jobs requiring higher level skills are less vulnerable.

Indeed, focused application of AI capabilities can free our time and energy to focus more on these areas by allowing us to cut through and structure the detail at unprecedented speeds.

The holistic skills that are at the heart of financial planning are still the unique domain of the human brain.

To succeed as a financial services professional in a future where AI is deployed extensively, you will need to ensure that you are working at that higher level and that you have the higher level qualifications and up-to-date learning to demonstrate and maintain your expertise – that differentiation will become ever more critical to our success.

Susan Clements is director of learning at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment