Robots May Write Wall Street Analyst Notes One Day

Wall Street analyst notes may one day be written by robots — that’s if companies that make the artificial intelligence programs have anything to do with it.

One startup, Narrative Science, creates news articles generated by a computer program. The company has its sights set on financial services, too, The Wall Street Journal reports.

It’ll be a win for banks. They’re trying to boost efficiency and cut costs, and as the artificial technology becomes more advanced it can potentially take on more complex tasks, the report said.

The way Narrative Sciences’ program works goes like this: It sifts through information, such as regulatory filings, databases, and internal documents. Next, it uses an algorithm to put together the information in summaries or articles.

“It’s a very hot debate about whether the financial analyst community is going to be decimated by algorithms,” Celent Senior Analyst William Trout told the Journal. “Disruption, when it happens, happens very fast.”

“Analysts are overwhelmed with the work they typically have to do,” said Narrative Science CEO Stuart Frankel. Robots and automation “frees them up to do higher-value work.”

Wall Street isn’t the only place where robots may become more involved. Other jobs, such as cashiers and drivers, are seeing more automation, too.