Hong Kong finance sector on pace in AI deployment, with data availability, security and skills gap among concerns: survey
- The city’s financial professionals express optimism about Hong Kong’s standing as a global financial hub well-positioned for AI adoption
- A quarter of respondents to a survey from PwC and Hong Kong Trade Development Council say a workforce skills gap could stymie adoption
Data availability and cybersecurity represent major challenges to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services, according to more than 60 per cent of Hong Kong financial professionals in a joint survey by PwC and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Hong Kong’s current pace of AI development in financial services is on par with other financial hubs, according to about 40 per cent of the respondents. But a majority also said a skills gap in the workforce and cybersecurity represent insufficiently addressed challenges, Raymund Chao, PwC Asia-Pacific and China chairman, said at the Asian Financial Forum on Wednesday.
“There is an urgent need for business reinvention – looking at business models, products and services and operations, understanding the impact as well as the opportunity of AI, and harnessing the power of AI to respond to a constantly evolving landscape,” he said.
AI has made inroads into several aspects of financial services, with virtual chatbots, fraud detection and biometric authentication being the most prominent application areas, according to the survey, conducted online in December with 86 senior executives based in Hong Kong.
AI will find use in areas such as algorithmic trading, automated customer service and more effective fraud detection, as well as more efficient claims processing, a majority of respondents said.
The city’s financial professionals expressed optimism about Hong Kong’s standing as a global financial hub well-positioned for AI adoption. More than 60 per cent indicated confidence in investor awareness, acceptance and access to capital for AI investment.
However, concerns persist. More than two-thirds of respondents cited Hong Kong’s data availability and quality as factors hindering AI implementation, and 65 per cent identified cybersecurity and data privacy as key challenges.
China to double down on Hong Kong’s role in bonds, green finance
One in four professionals also said Hong Kong is not adequately prepared for future AI adoption in terms of workforce availability and readiness, according to the survey.
Current regulations are neutral in terms of their impact on AI usage, according to half of the respondents, but one-third said current regulations are too restrictive.
Chinese entrepreneur’s AI-powered gadget Rabbit becomes surprise hit
A robust data governance framework, regulatory sandboxes for testing and deploying AI technologies, and a designated regulatory framework for responsible AI use are among the regulatory changes the financial professionals expect to see, Chao said.
“We are encouraged by the continuing efforts of the Hong Kong SAR government, in driving the safe sharing of data and addressing some of the business community’s concerns, specifically the big concern around the flow of data,” he said.
“We’re encouraged to see, and most notably, the recent memorandum of cooperation between the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Hong Kong SAR government that focused on fostering cross-border data flow in the Greater Bay Area.”
