World leaders must wise up to threat of cyber-attacks or rogue fridges will be least of their worries | Heather Stewart
At the IMF’s annual meetings in Bangkok, officials warned that AI-enabled cybercrime could weaken confidence in banks and threaten financial stability. IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said increasingly convincing and abundant digital fraud could lead people to withdraw from mainstream banking and keep cash at home.
The article also highlights risks from AI agents that move customers’ money, which could trigger rapid deposit shifts and raise questions over who is liable for their decisions. JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon said the bank would not let digital agents act for customers, while Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey raised concerns about AI potentially replicating itself in household devices. Regulators face these risks amid uncertain legal responsibility and limited prospects for global cooperation.
- AI could make financial fraud more damaging.
- Automated money transfers may accelerate bank runs.
- Regulators must clarify responsibility for AI-driven harm.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
AI-enabled fraud and autonomous agents could erode trust in banks, accelerate withdrawals and create new risks when systems move money without clear human oversight. Advocates of stronger safeguards argue that regulators should clarify liability and require banks to manage these threats before failures spread across the financial system.
The case against
Heavy or premature regulation could slow useful financial innovation and impose costs before the scale of the risks is clear. A more cautious approach would let banks and technology firms test these tools under existing rules, while focusing regulators on specific evidence of harm and avoiding rules that are difficult to coordinate internationally.