WASHINGTON– The Trump administration has made clear it wants little to stand in the way of innovation in artificial intelligence, but what about rules aimed at stopping—or at least curtailing—how AI is being used by fraudsters?
“I think the issue with AI is there are two dimensions to it,” said Andrew Morris, director of innovation and technology with America’s Credit Unions,, in response to a question from the CU Daily during a media call. “AI can be a tool that is useful for credit unions in that it can expand access to credit and make things more efficient. But in the hands of criminals AI is also a tool, and I think with all technologies there has to be a balanced approach in terms of evaluating … the regulatory environment with respect to how to maximize economic benefits versus what needs to be done to prevent the criminal exploitation of these things.”
Morris noted there has been a “wide-ranging discourse” on what types of policies might apply to AI when it comes to cybersecurity and fraud.
Tech-Neutral Approach
“I think generally what we advocate is sort of a tech-neutral approach to any sort of strategy or policy around preventing fraud,” Morris said. “So, we’re not necessarily advocating for the specific use of technologies, and we’re not necessarily advocating for a specific prohibition on technologies. Within that sort of paradigm of tech-neutrality there are a wide range of current laws and existing regulations that already ensure a high level of security with respect to how credit unions use these tools.
“But as far as criminal exploitation of things like voice cloning, etc., that is a policy debate that doesn’t really involve the financial sector,” Morris continued. “Those are policy questions that are far wider in scope and probably involve other sectors of the economy.”
Letter Sent to Hill
As the CU Daily reported here, last week in its letter to the House Financial Services Subcommittee’s hearing on how AI and other technologies are shaping the future of finance, Jim Nussle, the trade group’s president and CEO, wrote, “From managing internal procedures to AI chatbots, to underwriting assistance and fraud detection—credit unions are seeing firsthand how AI is increasing staff efficiency, automating previously laborious tasks, reducing paperwork, and expediting loan decision making processes.”
Nussle further told the committee that AI-powered fraud analytics can enhance credit union efforts to prevent financial crime and reduce Bank Secrecy Act compliance costs.
