Keeping the focus on human beings, and jobs, in today's AI-driven world

NOT a day passes without new instances, out in the media, of how artificial intelligence is touching and transforming the world, in everything from daily tasks at home, at work, at play, to the more rarefied reaches of, say, galaxy explorations and other esoteric scientific endeavours.

Take the world of finance and banking. Of 100 North American trading and foreign-exchange firms surveyed for a TradeTech FX conference in Miami, 94 said they aimed to automate more of their foreign-exchange trading operations in the next three years. The US$5.1 trillion-a-day currency market is embracing in a big way electronic and algorithmic trading.

Here in Singapore, OCBC Bank's home and renovation loan chatbot Emma has closed more than S$70 million in home loans since the start of the year. The bank is also working with a fintech firm to tap AI and machine learning to combat financial crime.