Margaret Nienaber, Chief Operating Officer, Standard Bank Group.

Generative Artifical Intelligence is making advanced technology accessible to everyone. It’s no longer just a tool for software engineers and data scientists; it’s for anyone who wants to enhance their capabilities, whether in marketing, finance, or client facing roles. 

 As it continues to evolve, the technology is becoming an integral part of our daily lives, transforming the way we work, live, and interact.

It’s important to recognise that while recent AI breakthroughs have captured global attention, its roots extend back to 1956. Its development have empowered machines to learn, analyse, and even create in ways that were once unimaginable. 

In industries like finance, the technology is already revolutionising everything from risk management, fraud detection and personalised customer experiences.

Central to our AI strategy is the commitment to keeping humans in the loop as we believe the technology should complement human judgment, not replace it. 

This ensures a balance between efficiency and empathy, where automated decisions are always guided by human oversight. AI is here to enhance our roles, not to take them over. 

While the technology can generate, predict, and even create, it lacks the ethical compass, empathy, and nuanced understanding that are inherently human. 

By automating routine tasks, AI frees us to focus on what truly matters—having meaningful conversations, building relationships and solving complex problems. We see the technology as a tool to free up time to allow humans to be more humans, to focus their time on connection and creativity.

The deployment of AI is not just a technical endeavour; it is a responsibility that requires careful consideration of the societal and ethical implications. Human involvement ensures that AI-driven decisions are aligned with our core values, preserving our biggest asset as an organisation, trust. 

In a world where machines can mimic creativity, it is our human insights, integrity, and wisdom that guide AI’s potential towards a sustainable future. As AI evolves, so too must our interaction with it. Understanding how to effectively prompt AI is key to unlocking its full potential. 

This means shifting from traditional keyword searches in Google to having more dynamic, conversational interactions with AI tools. By mastering the art of prompting, users will be better equipped to harness the power of AI, driving more meaningful and impactful outcomes.

As we integrate AI into various aspects of our lives, it’s crucial to consider its impact on future generations. AI offers numerous opportunities for enhancing education, healthcare, and safety for children. 

However, it also poses risks, such as privacy concerns and the potential for biased decision-making. We must remain committed to promoting responsible AI use, ensuring that our children benefit from these advancements while safeguarding their well-being and privacy.

To fully harness the power of AI, we must get the human part of the equation right. This means ensuring that users have the necessary capabilities and learning, that our processes and operating model are optimised for AI, and that the leadership is aligned on a vision. 

It’s not just about deploying technology. There are several key prerequisites to get right on the AI journey: public cloud computing for scalability and flexibility, robust security measures to protect sensitive data, high-quality data to feed AI systems for accurate outputs, and a commitment to responsible AI practices that align with ethical principles and protect privacy.

While we recognise the immense potential of AI, we are also mindful of the possible dangers. We will continue to learn from and engage with others. 

Our strategy involves engaging closely with our technology vendors and partners, ensuring that we adopt AI in a manner that is both pragmatic, responsible and commercially viable. 

As we move forward, we will continue to leverage Large Language Models (LLMs) available through our partners. Although the compute power, skills, data, and investment required to develop proprietary LLMs are not commercially viable at the moment, we remain open to the possibility of owning them in the future.

AI’s impact isn’t limited to the workplace; it has the potential to improve our personal lives as well, like managing our travel schedules. The technology can be a powerful tool in our day-to-day activities.

It’s about augmenting human potential, making us more efficient and effective in what we do. By automating mundane tasks, the technology allows us to have meaningful conversations, build relationships and solve complex problems.

“Emotions are the key to the human experience, and no machine can replicate the depth of human feeling.” – Unknown