Man enhanced by machine

19:00, October 26, 2023

How a lecture by GSEM UrFU students turned into a fascinating discussion with the flagship of fintech

Today, Graduate School of Economics and Management of UrFU held an open lecture on the topic “Artificial intelligence in fintech: where does it really help?” The speaker was Alexey Kashirin, Head of advanced analytics at Alfa-Bank. The students from the Business Informatics and International Economics and  Business programs showed the most interest in the topic.

The topic of artificial intelligence has been one of the most discussed for many years and has many manifestations, mainly in science, business and manufacturing, education and the entertainment industry. Alexey gave several interesting practical examples of how AI is used in Alfa Bank’s business processes. “We use AI in Geoanalytics to make decisions on the location of a network of offices and optimize courier routes, in order to optimize the work schedules of branch employees. Even decisions about approving or not approving loans are now made with the participation of “artificial intelligence,” but all this happens under human control,” said Alexey Kashirin.

Of course, the impressive successes of artificial intelligence systems have made students think about the sufficiency of the knowledge they receive at the university, as well as whether the specialties in which they study will remain in demand in the next decade. A heated discussion erupted around the list of professions that will remain on the labor market, which will leave, and which will change beyond recognition.

"It is necessary to become something more than an average specialist and plan a future profession taking into account the development of AI systems. Already now we see a difference in competencies: a person who uses the capabilities of a machine and a person who does not use them. Of course, new professions will arise related to the use of intelligent systems, their training and development. Therefore, curiosity will be more and more in demand – it is no longer possible to learn something once and use only this knowledge for the rest of your life," Alexey Kashirin stressed.

But there is also good news for those who fear a " AI takeover ": existing AI models live on historical statistics and do not know how to invent something that has never been created by man. And the pandemic, which gave a sharp leap to online communication systems, showed that technological progress is unable to offer alternatives to live emotions. The human-to-human contact is still the most popular. The guys and the speaker felt it for themselves – Alexey Kashirin's lecture gave everyone an incredible charge of new knowledge, positive emotions and questions to "think about".

And the expert also awarded cool sets of merch to three of the most active students - Kamilla Grigoryan and Henrik Nikoghosyan from IEB programme and Ivan Pasmurtsev from "Business Informatics" programme.

We thank the Alfa–Bank team for a wonderful event and look forward to new meetings!