Think for a moment about everything that goes on each day in a fast-paced environment like a healthcare facility or financial organization.
Doctors are spending time pouring over charts and other information to make the best, practical diagnosis on how to treat patients.
Financial advisors are trying to keep up with the ever-changing markets in an attempt to make the best decisions for their clients.
Now, add compliance on top of that—something that is often heavily reliant on manual processes and static rules.
None of this is to say that compliance isn't important—it's just that it can quickly become a full-time job, which is problematic when someone like a surgeon already has one of those that is (correctly) monopolizing all their time.
Thankfully, over the last few years, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a way to supplement and sometimes outright replace those manual processes.
Because AI tools can process vast amounts of data far faster than a human can, they're also capable of recognizing patterns, quickly adapting to changing regulatory conditions, and more.
For smaller healthcare and financial organizations in particular, this isn't just a far more effective and accurate way to manage their compliance strategies.
It's literally a more responsible one, too—especially when the predictive capabilities of artificial intelligence are taken into consideration.
By far, one of the biggest compliance technology trends to pay attention to has to do with machine learning and pattern recognition.
Machine learning algorithms are capable of not only processing complex datasets—they can also recognize both recurring patterns and outlier anomalies within them.
They're great at quickly identifying when conditions change away from whatever behavior is expected, even if they're not explicitly being told to do so.
In finance, for example, a machine learning algorithm might ingest all data coming into an organization and quickly detect fraudulent transactions to protect customers.
It would do this by comparing those "not normal" transactions against regular and expected customer behavior.
Natural language processing, otherwise known as NLP for short, is another area of AI that is driving compliance innovations.
AI-powered tools can be used to process and analyze the massive volumes of text that make up compliance documents like HIPAA.
That insight can then look at contracts, compliance reports, and more—all to make sure that everything is complete and accurate and that an organization is always moving in the right direction.
When it comes to actually using these AI tools for enhanced compliance across your own organization, if it feels like the possibilities are endless, that's because they largely are.
Because of this, you need to narrow your focus to help uncover which investment areas can make the biggest long-term impact.
This begins with a thorough evaluation of your existing compliance framework.
Identify those areas where manual processes are prone to errors, for example, or where they generally just prove to be inefficient.
Then, you can see how (if at all) AI can be used to address these challenges.
If the compliance team at a community bank spends a significant amount of time on document review, for example, natural language processing may be able to help with that.
It can free up the valuable time of those employees so that they can focus on more important matters.
Then, you can move onto actually selecting the tools themselves.
Never underestimate how important it is to make sure that a specific tool matches up with specific compliance needs and regulatory requirements.
In essence, don't invest in an AI tool just because it's being positioned as the "latest and greatest." Invest in it because you need to.
Consider factors like the complexity of your compliance environment, as well as the volume of data you're working with.
Make sure that any AI tools you select are compliant with industry standards.
If your AI tool isn't in compliance with HIPAA, you aren't, either—never let yourself forget that.
Finally, you can move onto the act of actually integrating those AI technologies within your current systems to make sure that everything works together seamlessly as it should.
To get to this point, know that there are certain workflows that will need to be significantly adjusted to make up for the work the new tool is doing.
Your staff will likely need to be trained to get the most from this investment.
You'll want to put in place a series of logical protocols that help everyone manage the AI-driven insights they now have access to.
For the best results, consider a phased approach - if nothing else to avoid disruption.
Start with a pilot project and work your way outward as each "phase" is successful.
This can help not only manage the transition to AI in a compliance context, but it can also uncover new opportunities for improvement that you may have been totally unaware of when the project began.
While there are many in the technology space that are positioning artificial intelligence as some type of "silver bullet" that will solve all your problems at a fundamental level, that's not to say that there aren't certain challenges you must be aware of - particularly as it relates to compliance.
An AI algorithm is only as good as the data that is used to train it.
If some type of bias is present in the training data, it will often lead to unfair or even downright discriminatory outcomes.
Addressing this will require a proactive, ongoing effort to guarantee both fairness and transparency in all AI systems.
Especially when it comes to healthcare, you'll also need to do whatever it takes to safeguard that sensitive data to make sure that AI applications are being used responsibly.
Part of this has to do with human oversight.
While everyone wants to turn AI into something of a "cyber autopilot," that cannot fully be the case.
AI systems should always be viewed as tools that help people, rather than replace them, particularly when it comes to judgment.
Making an effort to guarantee accountability involves regular monitoring of AI systems, while also maintaining a clear understanding of their application-specific limitations.
Again: AI is changing incredibly rapidly, and it can seem like every day there is some new development that shatters what we knew to be true before.
Because of this, you should always make an effort to understand AI trends as they relate to compliance practices so that you know exactly how they can be used across your organization.
In finance, for example, organizations are experimenting with advanced fraud detection algorithms that don't just quickly identify fraud, but that can potentially even predict it.
Robotic process automation, otherwise known as RPA for short, is further streamlining operational efficiency.
AI-driven risk management tools are particularly helpful in a financial setting, particularly as it relates to judging the creditworthiness of new account holders or loan applicants.
In fact, there is an entire technology space devoted to regulatory solutions (appropriately called RegTech) that will play a significant role in streamlining all of this in the future.
To help navigate both the break-neck pace at which technology continues to advance and future regulatory challenges that we may not have even anticipated yet, organizations should adopt forward-thinking AI strategies.
You're not just making decisions that impact today or even the short-term.
You need to think like you're in this for the long haul.
This means constantly updating your AI systems, never assuming that you've "done enough" to maintain compliance.
It will require you to participate in industry forums to better understand the evolving compliance requirements as they pertain to you.
It will also require you to be proactive about how you integrate new AI capabilities into your organization at an administrative level.
The end goal isn't just to guarantee regulatory compliance.
It's to help create a significant competitive advantage for yourself at the same time.
The less time you have to spend worrying about compliance, the more time you have to focus on breaking new ground for your clients or patients.
The more secure you are in that compliance, the less you have to worry about potentially getting hit with a significant violation that you might not ever recover from.
In the end, remember that ChatGPT—the solution that, for many, has become synonymous with the AI-driven world that we're now living in—only launched in late November 2022.
In two years, entire industries have already been upended.
Today, it's estimated that 9 out of 10 organizations support AI for the purpose of creating a competitive advantage.
By as soon as 2025, AI might eliminate 85 million jobs, while simultaneously creating 97 million new ones.
The AI industry is expected to see an annual growth rate of 37.3% between 2023 and 2030.
When you think about everything that has already happened in the last two years, it's incredible to think about what the next two might have in store for all of us— to say nothing of the massive, unpredictable leaps forward that will occur between now and the end of the decade.
Things are moving at a lightning pace right now—there's truly no avoiding that.
AI is learning all the time and the faster it learns, the faster it is able to change into something totally new.
That's why you need to make staying on top of compliance technology trends and updates a priority that you take seriously.
Yes, it's important to make sure you're aware of the latest opportunities so that you can capitalize on them before anyone else can.
But you also need to be aware of the steps you need to take to ensure proper maintenance for automated compliance tools today, too.
Those steps are changing all the time and if you don't keep up, you will quickly find yourself left behind.
If you'd like to find out more information about the future of AI in compliance and the automated compliance tools and techniques that will become an increasingly important part of all our lives, or if you just have any additional questions that you'd like to go over with someone in a bit more detail, please don't hesitate to contact us today.
