A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL CONTENT
LOOMING LARGE : ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ’ S PROMISE AND THREAT
For anti-financial crime ( AFC ) professionals , the potential of artificial intelligence ( AI ) was one of the biggest themes of 2023 , as we explored how to use vast amounts of financial intelligence to identify , interdict and seize the proceeds of crime and ultimately bring criminals to justice .
We pursued that theme in earnest in 2023 , identifying the promise of machine learning and generative AI within these ACAMS Today pages , on ACAMS moneylaundering . com , and at ACAMS ’ events , providing opportunities for AFC professionals to question what , exactly , AI is ― and what it can realistically be expected to accomplish .
Notably , at several ACAMS Assembly events we heard regulators talk up AI as a new , proactive paradigm that could put law enforcement ( LE ) a step ahead of financial criminals . “ I think we can all agree that the status quo is not the answer ,” the chief executive of Canada ’ s financial intelligence unit , Sarah Paquet , said in a keynote at ACAMS ’ Assembly Canada in mid-November . 1
Challenging attendees to file highpriority suspicious activity reports in real time , the FINTRAC director vowed to meet that timeliness with accelerated processing of information to LE and feedback to the filing institutions .
The potential for AI to support “ real-time reporting ” which would allow LE officials to gather intelligence that profiles criminals ― and stops them ― in the act , seems to be the Holy Grail for AFC professionals . But as Paquet made clear , achieving anything close to real-time reporting of suspicious transaction reports ( STRs ) depends on the adoption of AI by both regulators and financial entities .
While her remarks were generally well-received by attendees , professionals at some of the big Canadian FIs questioned how true can “ real time ” be , and shared concerns about both whether AI and its tools will continue to mature and if it can possibly live up to its potential .
“ It ’ s a great opportunity , but the question will be : ‘[ I ] s my institution ’ s data structure ready to take advantage of it ?” Michael Donovan , chief anti-money officer at CIBC , noted during a later panel discussion , as reported in ACAMS moneylaundering . com . 2 On a related note , find “ Open banking and financial crime risks in Canada ” in this edition on page 16 .
I am reminded of Willie Sutton ’ s famous reply to the question of why he robbed banks (“ that ’ s where the money is ”). Today , of course , the money is online . And while we know criminals are still relying on old-fashioned methods of fraud to commit financial crime , we also know they are turning to increasingly sophisticated stratagems including new technology and even AI tools to steal from hapless individuals , financial firms and other businesses .
Limiting their impact means not only having the capacity to identify transactional crime in real time but being a step ahead of the individual scammers , transnational criminals and nation states now using AI with devastating results for their victims .
For instance , criminals are already capturing brief voice recordings of unsuspecting individuals through a variety of ruses , including wrong numbers , and using AI applications to imitate their victims ’ voices to commit fraud , according to Chris Lynam , director general of the National Cybercrime Coordination Centre and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police .
14 acamstoday . org