The Bank of England is taking a closer look at how existing regulations will be adapted to cover autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector. Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden stated that current regulatory frameworks were not geared towards AI agents without direct human instruction, as these are the ones responsible for executing complex tasks and making decisions on behalf of humans.
The review aims to assess whether existing rules for agentic AI can be used in various areas such as payments, trading, cybersecurity, and operations. This is a significant move as autonomous AI systems are increasingly being deployed across different sectors and industries.
The Bank of England's examination will help determine if there needs to be new regulations or if existing ones should be modified. The bank believes that its review has the potential to lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive regulatory framework that accommodates the growth of AI in finance.