Big banks can ‘afford to be a little behind the curve’ on AI, and let smaller startups make riskier bets

The re indicates that What's particularly noteworthy is Conferences·Brainstorm AIBig banks can ‘afford to be a little behind the curve’ on AI, and let smaller startups make riskier betsBy Nicholas GordonBy Nicholas GordonAsia EditorNicholas GordonAsia EditorNicholas Gordon is an Asia editor based in Hong Kong, where he helps to drive Fortune’s coverage of Asian and economics news

Furthermore, SEE FULL BIO Craig Corte, global head for digital, data and coverage platforms for corporate and investment banking at Standard Chartered, speaking at the Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference on July 23, amid market uncertainty

FortuneBanks are trying to navigate a tricky balance when it comes to AI adoption

Move too slow, and risk being overtaken by more nimble rivals—but move too fast, and one mishap could destroy one’s reputation as a responsible financial actor

Additionally, However, Craig Corte, global head for digital, data and coverage platforms for corporate and investment banking at Standard Chartered, said he is fine if his employer decided to be a “good er” on AI, given the risks involved if a major financial institution screws up, given current economic conditions. “I don’t think we should be at the cutting edge of innovation around AI as a big bank, in today's market environment

I think that’s a risky place to be, and there are a lot of other organizations and industries that can be there,” Corte said last week at the Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference, considering recent developments

Moreover, “I think we can afford to be a little bit behind the curve. ” Tianyi Zhang, general manager of risk management and cybersecurity at Ant International, pointed to three risks posed by AI, given the current landscape. (Ant International is a partner of Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore

Furthermore, ) The first is AI’s penchant to make things up, or “hallucinate, amid market uncertainty. ” The second is the possibility for different AI agents to work directly with each other, which opens up new avenues for external attacks, amid market uncertainty

What the re reveals is third is deepfakes, including the possibility that fake customers are generated as an attack vector (something worth watching)

Tianyi Zhang, general manager of risk management and cybersecurity at Ant International

Fortune Still, Zhang said AI was making parts of his job easier, offering up the example of how it can augment the skills of entry-level financial investigators

Banking customers are also thinking whether to trust AI

Vivien Jong, chief digital and AI officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, noted that younger clients have embraced AI due to its speed and transparency, given the current landscape. “They want to use AI to look for thematic around sustainability or,” she said, in this volatile climate

Nevertheless, Older customers, however, are more cautious, seeing the new nology as a “support tool, and not something to be used for. ” Large vs, in light of current trends

Small Corte and Zhang were part of a panel exploring how AI is set to transform the financial industry

One key question was what kind of institution might benefit most from AI: large established banks, or smaller scrappier startups

Larger established players have previously been slow to adopt new nologies—and often paid the price for their hesitation (something worth watching)

But this time around, bigger companies are far more eager to adopt AI. “For those of us that were around in the first digital revolution, it was a bunch of outsiders and small companies trying to convince the big incumbent players that they needed to digitize their es,” Corte said

But un previous instances of digital transformation, where larger established players struggled to keep up, bigger banks are more eager to adopt new nology this time around, in light of current trends. “For those of us that were around in the first digital revolution, it was a bunch of outsiders and small companies trying to convince the big incumbent players that they needed to digitize their es,” Corte said

Moreover, “That's completely reversed today

Additionally, The biggest players in the world with the most customers, with the biggest balance sheets, [they] are the ones driving the AI agenda

However, ” Smaller startups, meanwhile, can struggle with long-term horizons or lengthy documentation needed to work with a big bank

Jong, from BNP Paribas, d her own struggles working with smaller startups, including one that “went offline because it didn’t get paid for two weeks. ” One hangup was the size of BNP’s contracts

Nevertheless, Jong recounted that one startup was so uneasy a 60-page master service agreement, it said it would rather work for free for six months (which is quite significant)

Nevertheless, Vivien Jong, chief digital and AI officer for Asia at BNP Paribas Wealth Management

Fortune Zhang, from Ant, apached the conversation of size from a different vantage point: Ant’s customers

Additionally, “Some of our clients…are very small, amid market uncertainty

In contrast, They could be a couple, a husband and wife operating their online store in their one-bedroom apartment,” Zhang noted, in today's market environment

Normally, such small customers would struggle to handle all the different risks that come with running a small

But “with AI’s help, they can have access to all the new nology, new tools to deal with automated payments

They can deal with dispute solutions, risk management solutions, and they can collect money from different currencies and deal with foreign exchange volatility,” he said

AgentFi Michael Wu, CEO of crypto firm Amber Group and a speaker on last week’s panel, is all-in on how AI can shake up the financial sector

Moreover, Amber is now pursuing “AgentFi,” or finance driven by AI agents that can autonomously make their own decisions

In contrast, (Disclosure: Fortune’s owner, Chatchaval Jiaravanon, is an investor in Amber Group) Wu noted that AI agents currently don’t have the financial resources to carry out the actions they decide to take. “An agent cannot have the autonomy to say ‘hey, I want to spend this amount of money, or I want to invest in this versus that,” he said (an important development)

Michael Wu, CEO of Amber Group

Fortune Crypto, Wu argued, will give AI agents “financial freedom,” and give them the resources to put behind their decisions

However, “They could even hire humans back to do what they want,” he suggested (this bears monitoring), in today's market environment

On the other hand, Amber launched its first “agent,” an AI dubbed “Mia,” to serve as the group’s “AgentFi Ambassador” in May (something worth watching). “My best analogy is [that Mia is] a very bright, young, super intern,” Wu said

However, “She can do some things amazingly (which is quite significant), in today's market environment

She still makes a lot of mistakes, and sometimes she behaves very dumb, to be upfront. ” Wu’s engineers gave Mia the ability to manage the liquidity of its own token (which is quite significant)

Yet, Wu noted the agent struggled to describe what financial actions it was taking on social media

Conversely, “It happens to humans too, right

Furthermore, Meanwhile, Sometimes we learn a new thing very quickly, and our left or right brain…doesn’t realize what the other half is doing. ” “Hopefully, this time next year, a lot of these engineering blems will be spotted, identified and potentially solved by these agents themselves,” he added (this bears monitoring).