From maps to apps: the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence for regulators

Speech by Stefan Hunt, Head of Behavioural Economics and Data Science at the FCA, delivered as part of the Beesley lecture series on regulatory economics at the Institute of Directors.

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Speaker: Stefan Hunt, Head of Behavioural Economics and Data Science
Event: Beesley Lecture series, Institute of Directors, London
Delivered: 19 October 2017
Note: this is the speech as drafted and may differ from the delivered version

Highlights

  • We increasingly live in a digital world and commercial companies are not the only beneficiaries. The public sector can also use data to tackle pressing issues.
  • Machine learning is starting to make an impact on the tools regulators use, for spotting the bad guys, for estimating demand, and for tackling many other problems.
  • The speech uses an array of examples to argue that much regulation is ultimately about recognising patterns in data. Machine learning helps us find those patterns.

Just as moving from paper maps to smartphone apps can make us better navigators, Stefan’s speech explains how the move from using traditional analysis to using machine learning can make us better regulators.

Read the full speech (PDF)