At mallowstreet, we’ve spent a lot of time over the past several months trying to discern the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise’ when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The team has spent time working out how we can practically apply AI to our jobs, giving us the space to develop new skills. This catalyst for improvement means we see huge opportunities ahead for the asset management sector as well as the broader financial services industry – and beyond. 

 

This summer, an article by Tim Harford – “Intellect’ – in the FT Weekend Magazine caught my eye. Specifically, the argument that different technologies tilt the playing field in different directions. I found the study he mentioned, ‘Generative AI at work’ (by Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li & Lindsey R. Raymond) and the findings from their working paper from the National Bureau of Economic research (NBER) fascinating:

 

What struck me was the fact that the biggest benefit was that the least skilled workers were able to solve 35% more queries per hour. And not only were they more productive, but crucially they learned and improved more quickly than those that didn’t have access to the tools. We’ve all heard AI is coming for our jobs and of the stories of school children using ChatGPT to do their homework – there’s a temptation to believe it will change our world for the worse. 

 

However, I’m in Tim’s camp as I see more than a glimmer of hope for the AI revolution. I expect the creation of a range of tools that will not only make us all better at our jobs, but maybe will also form a central part of the solution to helping solve the ever-elusive UK productivity puzzle.