After ChatGPT breakthrough, Chinese regulator mulls use of AI chatbots in financial regulation

Lu Lei, deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, says technology like ChatGPT could be used to study financial issues and inform governance

The forex regulator says that traditional monetary tools could make way for a new regulatory system targeting liquidity, fraud and mismanagement in the future

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Lu Lei, deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, says generative AI could be used to study financial issues. Photo: Weibo

Published: 4:00am, 7 Apr 2023Updated: 5:20am, 7 Apr 2023

A Chinese financial regulator has expressed interest in using artificial intelligence (AI) in monetary policy, after ChatGPT, an AI chatbot, triggered investment interest and promises of public support in the world’s No 2 economy.

Lu Lei, deputy head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the country’s foreign exchange regulator, said technology like ChatGPT could lead the digital revolution over the next 10 years.

“If we use the ideas of generative AI to study financial issues, it may help form an effective technical route for financial development and governance,” he said.

Lu made the comments at the annual conference of the China Society for Finance and Banking on Tuesday, which was also attended by central bank governor Yi Gang, former governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and Eddie Yue, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Lu, who previously oversaw the research and financial stability bureaus of the Chinese central bank, is the first official to openly express interest in using ChatGPT and artificial intelligence in financial regulation.