Artificial Intelligence (AI) has an impact on all sectors of activity, however human intervention remains crucial, Governor of the National Bank of Moldova (BNM) Anca Dragu said on Friday at the 3rd edition of the AI & Big Data Conference - Regional AI Valley.

'We look at and take measures when it comes to cybersecurity and AI in general. It is more than monetary policy, financial stability and supervision, so nowadays we also need to discuss these new trends. We must see this thing as more than a principle. When we talk about AI, we apply this imperative across all our sectors of activity, in all our actions. A study by the IFC, conducted across 60 jurisdictions, shows that around 45 percent of central banks say AI and machine learning are already a strategic priority. The IFC study also observed that AI impacts all sectors we operate in, meaning it affects monetary policy and forecasting. Of course, we can have more predictable models, but in this area precisely human intervention is crucial. We cannot rely solely on AI and machine learning,' Dragu said.

In the view of the National Bank of the Republic of Moldova official, AI is a very useful tool for the area regarding financial stability.

'Financial stability is another important area for central banks, and here again, AI is a great tool. However, we see that the widespread adoption of similar algorithmic strategies can amplify herd behaviour and may actually exacerbate systemic risks. In supervision, there are already tools developed by the Federal Reserve, while the ECB [the European Central Bank] has its own tool - Athena. What do these tools do? They automatically extract relevant insights on risks from millions of documents that need processing and accelerate the detection of inappropriate behaviours in supervision. Therefore, it is a very useful instrument. For payments, in my opinion at least, it is the area where AI makes the biggest difference, because it helps us obtain information from so many records, from so much data, and to act in a timely manner,' Anca Dragu underscored.

She also brought to mind economic research, where AI is used to improve forecasting.

'But again, we cannot rely solely on AI. Humans should be at the wheel, in charge of this. According to the IFC study, the greatest impact identified by central banks is, let's say, a negative impact on younger staff, as their work at the start of their careers is more affected. Young staff are often required to summarise meetings and this is a learning method. However, in reality, it increases work efficiency. That is why I say we should view AI as a copilot for our activities. We must remain highly responsible and build all our internal models around responsibility and ethics (...) We do not need a specific law to tell us where the line between ethical and non-ethical use of AI lies,' BNM Governor Anca Dragu mentioned.

AmCham Romania, AmCham Moldova and AmCham Ukraine, together with the representative organizations of IT industry - the Employers' Association of the Software and Service Industry in Romania (ANIS), the Moldovan Association of ICT Companies (ATIC) and the IT-Ukraine Association, are organising, on Friday, the 3rd edition of the AI & Big Data Conference - Regional AI Valley event. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Badea; EN - writing by: Rodica State)