Opinion: AI is one of the most important technologies of our time

JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon said artificial intelligence will have a major impact on society.

In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon chose AI as the top topic on his list of issues facing the bank. The importance of technology has outpaced geopolitical risks.

“While we do not know the full impact or exact speed at which artificial intelligence will change our business and how it will impact society as a whole, we are fully convinced that the consequences will be extraordinary,” the executive said.

The impact will be as transformative and comparable in magnitude to the invention of the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computers and the Internet, Dimon said.

The CEO said he remains concerned about inflationary pressures and that the world is entering the most perilous era in geopolitics since World War II. But his primary focus is on AI.

JPMorgan now has more than 2,000 employees focused on neural networks and machine learning, Dimon said. They work on 400 applications, including fraud detection, marketing and risk management. The bank is also exploring the use of generative AI in software development, customer service and improving productivity.

Ultimately, the technology could touch all 310,000 employees, helping some and replacing others, and forcing companies to reskill workers for new roles.

“Over time, we expect the use of neural networks to complement virtually every specialty and also impact the composition of our workforce,” Dimon said.

JPMorgan has previously helped some corporate clients reduce manual labor by nearly 90% using an AI tool.