New insight shows banks are making Responsible AI more of a priority
Are the banks becoming more transparent and responsible in their approach to AI? As the drive towards greater regulation and oversight of AI gathers pace, new insight from independent AI intelligence platform Evident suggests so.
The latest Evident AI Index, which analyses 50 of the world’s largest banks across a range of AI Transparency criteria, reveals that the number of people working in specialist RAI roles within the banks grew 43% between May-Sep 2023.
Yet while around one third of the big banks now claim to follow RAI principles within their organisation, according to Evident, only six (CommBank, Danske Bank, HSBC, NAB, Royal Bank of Canada, and Scotiabank) have explicitly published and explained these principles.
Evident’s findings show that, as of October 2023:
- 23 banks have established a senior leader tasked with RAI
- 20 banks have established partnerships specific to RAI
- 17 banks have engaged on RAI across multiple channels, including their website, strategic documents, and interviews with external media
- 16 banks have published original research specific to RAI
But while more than 30 banks now employ at least one person dedicated to RAI, Evident’s research shows that just 10 banks employ more than two-thirds of these roles. Further, there is no evidence of dedicated RAI roles at 17 of the banks in the Evident AI Index.
Alexandra Mousavizadeh, CEO and co-founder of Evident, comments:“With AI regulation firmly on the policy making agenda for 2024, the onus is on all organisations to proactively and transparently demonstrate their RAI credentials, which is why we’re greatly encouraged by the banking industry progress we’ve observed this year. That said, the RAI agenda is still being driven by a relatively narrow cohort of banks, largely North American-based, while many major institutions are still severely lagging behind when it comes to demonstrating RAI.”
The Evident AI Index assesses the AI maturity of 50 of the world’s largest banks across North America, Europe and APAC, with a minimum eligibility criterion of USD 200bn in total assets.
It reveals that the leading banks for AI Transparency are as follows:
- JPMorgan Chase
- Royal Bank of Canada
- Scotiabank
- CommBank
- Capital One
- HSBC
- NAB
- BNY Mellon
- NatWest
- Wells Fargo
JPMorgan Chase employs dedicated RAI teams, publishes RAI-focused research, has established partnerships with academic players; and has cemented responsible AI at the heart of the bank’s AI agenda.
HSBC leads the European pack, having made impressive progress around RAI since the start of the year, from developing an explicit set of RAI principles, to making wider contributions to AI innovation buoyed by its longstanding partnership with Alan Turing Institute. Both HSBC and NatWest have been considerably more active than the other UK banks in their public discourse around RAI.
Mousavizadeh adds: “While many institutions are taking proactive steps to address AI concerns and ensure they behave responsibly, there is no industry standard for responsible AI reporting, hence it is critical that the banks show leadership and report publicly on their AI progress.”
