The one percent should prepare for some bad news: Citigroup's new comprehensive report indicates that the finance industry will likely bear the brunt of displacement caused by AI. In the 124-page report, Citigroup declares that AI will have a profound impact on the financial sector. While it presents new opportunities for growth and innovation, improving the overall quality of life, it also "destroys" and creates "losers. " Wall Street bankers could be among the hardest hit. According to data from Accenture and the World Economic Forum, nearly 67% of banking jobs have a higher potential for change or full outsourcing due to AI, the highest among all the industries studied. Insurance, software, and capital markets follow closely behind, while utilities and natural resources are at the bottom of the list. However, there is some good news. The broader implementation of AI stands to greatly benefit banks and financial institutions, and may not even lead to a decline in overall headcount, once AI-related management roles are considered. At this stage, AI is not yet sophisticated enough to operate independently. A world powered by bots would still struggle with compliance, data security, and basic ethics.

AI models are known to create false information and hallucinate, posing significant business risks. Nevertheless, AI could potentially contribute $170 billion to the banking sector's profit pool by 2028. Financial institutions are aware of this potential, with 93% of respondents in a recent Citi client survey stating that AI adoption would improve their profitability within the next five years. The automation of routine tasks such as data entry and Excel files, currently handled by human workers, is a key factor in this optimism. Despite these clear benefits, Citigroup predicts that the financial services industry will be slow in adopting AI compared to other sectors. It attributes this hesitance to the heavily regulated nature of the sector and the lack of globally agreed-upon rules. While bankers may think they are leading the way, Citigroup suggests that many users are actually adopting technology faster than banks or big businesses, describing it as "the crowds running ahead of the crown. "