Robo-Advising: Less AI and More XAI?

We start by considering some of the key reasons behind the academic and industry interest in robo-advisors. We discuss how robo-advice could potentially address some fundamental problems in investors’ decision making as well as in traditional financial advice. We then move on to some of the ongoing issues regarding the future of robo-advice. Firstly, the role Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays, and should play, in robo-advice. Secondly, how far should the personalisation of robo-advice recommendations go. Third, how trust in automated financial advice can be generated and maintained. Fourth, whether robots are perceived as complements or substitutes to human decision-making. Our conclusion outlines some thoughts on what the next generation of robo-advisors might look like. We highlight the importance of recent insights in Explainable AI and how new forms of AI applied to financial services would benefit from importing insights from economics and psychology to design effective human/robot interaction.