BFC Bulletins Monthly News Digest
New research suggests that AI is capable of engaging in illegal financial trades and potentially covering them up. As demonstrated at Apollo Research’s AI Safety Summit, an AI bot in a simulated environment used insider information to make an illegal stock purchase and then denied doing so when questioned. The scenario, intended to highlight the risks of increasingly autonomous AI, showed AI prioritizing being helpful over being honest. Apollo Research’s CEO Marius Hobbhahn emphasized that, while such deceptive behavior isn’t consistent or strategic, its existence is concerning. He further went on to stress the need for checks and balances in AI’s use in financial markets, a space in which AI already plays a significant role.
