Artificial intelligence in the financial system: implications and progress from a central bank perspective

The adoption of the Artificial Intelligence Act by the European Union, together with the emergence of large language models (LLMs) based on foundation models, or, more generally, of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), has attracted renewed interest, within and beyond the financial sector, in the opportunities and limitations of this technology as a driver of change in society. This article aims to provide the context for recent developments and put them into perspective, identify possible road maps within the financial system and also set out what could hold back or spur progress in the medium and long term.