Are you AI-ready?

A new wave of content-generating AI solutions is delivering impact across a host of business applications. They include tools such as ChatGPT for the creation of written content, Dall-E for image production, and code generator Replit. Currently making waves in those industries focused on delivering personalised user experiences as well as the kind of analytical insights the accounting sector is built on, the potential of generative AI is immense – and only set to grow.

‘With AI expected to contribute up to US$15.7 trillion to the global economy in 2030, according to our research, its impact on business and society will be profound,’ says Sundara Raj, chief digital officer for PwC Malaysia-Vietnam. But although generative AI may have fast become a buzzword, corporates are not necessarily ready to take advantage of what’s already available, nor prepared for its future frontiers.

Expertise

For support in this transition, many businesses will be turning to their natural advisers – the accountancy firms. Among them is PwC, which is set to invest US$1bn in its AI portfolio over the next three years. ‘The significant investment aims to assist clients in reimagining their business workflow with generative AI,’ Raj says. ‘We highlight that frameworks are not meant to be prescriptive, but need to be adjusted accordingly so that governance, compliance, risk, internal audit and AI teams provide more focus on the risks as they emerge and evolve.’

Elsewhere, KPMG has recently announced it will invest US$2bn in AI and cloud services over the next five years as part of an expanded partnership with Microsoft. The investment will bring further automation of some KPMG services and help clients integrate AI into their own operations.

‘We take a responsible AI approach both internally and in our work with clients when helping them build or implement AI solutions,’ says Ian West, head of technology and alliances at KPMG UK. ‘Our responsible AI approach includes eight elements: fairness, explainability, accountability, data integrity, reliability, security, privacy and safety. Ensuring all of these are in place helps organisations, including our own, to build responsible, trustworthy and safe AI solutions.’

AI in Asia

Not-for-profit body AI Asia Pacific Institute supports member bodies including financial institutions and intergovernmental groups through research into the responsible governance of AI. The organisation’s Singapore headquarters lends it a strategic advantage, says executive director Kelly Forbes, who points out: ‘Singapore was one of the first nations to put forward frameworks and guidelines around these issues.’

In particular, the Veritas Initiative launched in 2018 as part of Singapore’s national AI strategy is a methodology for financial institutions to measure their AI and data analytics-led solutions in terms of fairness, ethics, accountability and transparency.

‘We fill a gap in terms of bringing this knowledge of navigating governance elsewhere in the region,’ Forbes says. ‘This has fast become a very relevant topic globally: before it was a nice to have, now it’s an urgent topic.’

Veritas is designed to boost service efficiency while avoiding the reputational risks that come with AI. Specifically, this includes bias, which impacts a range of industries; in the case of banks, it may manifest as lending to men over women, or expats over locals.

‘Not only that, but this technology is still developing,’ West says. ‘We must ensure we are still interrogating the answers and checking that the outputs are correct. Therefore, it is important for organisations to ensure they have the right processes in place to use AI in a safe, transparent and responsible way.’

AI and jobs

Despite the challenges ahead, the generative AI landscape is brimming with potential and, according to PwC’s Asia Pacific workforce hopes and fears survey 2023, employee sentiment is positive. Of the 19,500 individuals polled by the survey, 41% believe AI will help increase productivity/efficiency at work. On the flipside, 16% fear that AI will replace their role. ‘In every industrial revolution, machines take jobs away, but also create new jobs,’ Forbes points out. ‘The same will happen with AI. We just don’t know yet to what extent.’

In addition to emerging roles such as AI ethicist or chief ethics officer that will be required, Forbes cites functions focused on keeping pace with evolving policies and frameworks. ‘Legally speaking, we still see very little regulation,’ she says. ‘This will change dramatically in the coming years, so businesses need to create new roles or adapt existing ones as this evolves.’

From the top

For Raj, strong leadership is key to businesses embracing generative AI in a way that is efficient and ethical, and also inspires the extensive upskilling called for by generative AI’s rapid expansion. He says: ‘There are opportunities for collaborative action across and within governments, educational institutions and industries to support the growth of skills in key sectors, not just for workers whose jobs have been greatly impacted by automation, but also in building the next generation of leaders equipped to transform industries in the area of AI.’