In this talk Andrew Sutton will share from recent research on how finance may act both as an AI risk vector and risk mitigant.

An account of societal risks of AI is incomplete without the financial system: a complex, global, opaque system upon which everyone depends. The relationship runs in both directions. AI may cause the financial system to fail, through sudden disruptions or slow degradation of core functions. Equally, finance can help reduce AI risk. Capital allocation, insurance and risk pricing can shape how AI is built and adopted, while finance offers lessons for managing misuse risks, interdependent risks, and international coordination. This talk surveys both sides and identifies research directions.

Andrew Sutton is an Oxford Martin School Visiting Fellow and Research Affiliate at the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative, where he is developing AIGI’s work on AI governance and the financial system.

His research focuses on the financial system as an AI risk vector and risk mitigant, including ways in which frontier AI may cause aspects of the financial system to fail (e.g. markets, lending, payments), and ways finance can reduce AI risks, such as by shaping incentives or offering useful templates for risk management.

Andrew is a banker by background, with expertise in technology innovation, risk management and government engagement. He has worked in Brazil, Hong Kong, Taipei, New York, Shanghai and London. He is an affiliate of the Centre for the Governance of AI (GovAI) and a trustee of the London Initiative for Safe AI (LISA). He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and business administration at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.

'The dual role of the financial system in AI risk' with Andrew Sutton