UKSIF response: Treasury Committee inquiry on AI in Financial Services

In our response to the Committee’s call for evidence, we outline some of the main benefits, potential risks, and use-cases of artificial intelligence (AI), from our perspective, in relation to institutional investors’ sustainable and responsible investing practices, drawing on perspectives from our investor members that are now increasingly considering AI’s role within their investment decision-making, strategies, and the use of AI by their investee companies. While climate change risk has typically been a core topic of investor focus within sustainability, we are now seeing AI rise further up this agenda as part of investors’ consideration and investment analysis of material ESG factors.

We know that increasingly many consumers and wider society want to see more transparency and clarity from companies over their AI policies and efforts in mitigating negative impacts from AI, and we believe the global and UK investment community can play a prominent role in responding to this and helping promote much-needed transparency from all companies’ use of AI tools and models. We would welcome the Committee further exploring the role of investors and financial services firms in delivering this transparency on the use of AI and the ways in its benefits could be effectively harnessed to drive long-term, sustainable economic growth.

Please note that UKSIF’s response is informed by our membership, though this does not necessarily reflect the views and perspectives of our entire membership, either individually or collectively.

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