KUWAIT: Imagine a world where your investments are managed seamlessly by intelligent systems, continuously working to optimize your financial growth. The future of trading has arrived, with fintech companies integrating artificial intelligence and robot systems to automatically trade stocks for users. This transformative technology promises to reshape the financial landscape, offering unprecedented efficiency and new opportunities for investors. As this innovation takes root, it’s crucial to explore the technology behind these systems, their potential benefits, and how they are being received by the public.

Speaking to Kuwait Times, Dr Mohammed Ali, with a PhD in Banking and Finance focused on AI in financial predictions, discusses the rapid advancements in the field. “The industry grows daily, integrating more sophisticated algorithms and attracting an increasing number of users,” he notes. These developments are not just technical but are broadening the accessibility and applicability of AI in trading.

Furthermore, Dr Ali emphasizes the efficiency of AI in trading, highlighting its accuracy over human calculations. “AI is almost always more efficient when used properly. It’s more accurate than human calculations,” he asserts. However, he also warns of the potential pitfalls. “It’s a double-edged sword. If you input incorrect data, then your outputs will be incorrect as well, which could lead to false predictions and significant financial losses,” he said.

In acknowledging such a pitfall, Dr Ali points out a significant gap in the current landscape-education. “Usually, people who work with AI are computer programmers with some finance background, not pure finance students,” he explained. This highlights the need for academic programs that integrate deep financial knowledge with technical programming skills to prepare graduates for the complexities of modern financial industries.

Looking forward, a significant increase in AI integration within trading platforms seems highly likely. In the next five to ten years will probably be the timeframe in which we will most definitely be seeing a lot more trading websites incorporating categories for AI expectancies, thus indicating a shift towards more AI-dependent trading environments.

Dr Ali underscored the importance of ethical trading practices, even in an AI-driven context. “Ethical considerations in AI trading are similar to those in traditional trading. If you have information obtained illegally, it should not be used in AI applications,” he stated. He also highlighted several technical limitations, such as the need for fully developed AI algorithms and the high costs associated with data storage and computing power, which could prove to be solid reasons in the denial of a governmental backing (in terms of AI integration) for many low budget countries. Dr Ali suggested encouraging young investors to embrace AI trading, likening its potential impact to the advent of the internet. “AI is really the way of the future. Learning it now is the equivalent of learning how to use the internet and the computer 30 years ago,” he advised.

As AI continues to transform trading, insights from experts like Dr Mohammed Ali are invaluable in navigating both the opportunities and the challenges it presents. For Kuwait and the broader global market, embracing AI in trading could dictate the competitive edge in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. So as we stand on the brink of this digital frontier, embracing AI in trading is not just an option - it’s an imperative, urging us to adapt or risk being left behind in the relentless tide of technological progress.