AI for the FD: The finance person's sensible guide to artificial intelligence

Introduction

How are you feeling about the whole AI thing?

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It’s probably entered your life in some way – but if you’re still harbouring some anxiety about it, that’s understandable.  

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There’s an endless, exhausting discussion raging about what artificial intelligence means for the economy, the environment and humanity itself.

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Should you believe the tech founder who warned that AI would mean unemployment of up to 20%? The Silicon Valley startup whose declared ambition is to automate all human work? (Whatever gifts the AI innovators have been blessed with, humility isn’t always one of them.)  

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Or should you be reassured by the top business school that’s pointed to the millions of jobs AI could create – and the boost it can give to human productivity?  

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While these debates go on, you have a job to do, here and now, in finance. And all this talk of a workplace transformed by AI can seem like science fiction if you’re still keying numbers into spreadsheets or if your organisation hasn’t yet abolished paper invoices.

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That’s where this guide comes in.  

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In AI for the FD, we’ve sought to tune out the noise, the hype and the controversy. Wherever this technology is heading, nobody’s going to uninvent it. So we’ve focused on what it can really do for you, right now, and what actionable steps you can take to get up to speed.

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We’ve interviewed a host of very clever, tech-savvy people – and you’ll be pleased to learn that none of them is suggesting AI should replace you. The age of the robot FD is not yet upon us.  

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In fact, when we asked how finance professionals should start adopting AI, we kept getting the same response: Begin with the mundane work. The process-driven, repetitive tasks that suck up your time. If AI can help with that, you’ll be able to spend that time on the areas where your human wisdom is most valuable.

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If you use it well, AI could free you to focus on the things people do best. Welcome to the FD’s sensible guide to artificial intelligence.

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