Short abstract:

The proposed paper investigates from an ethnographic perspective, the development and use of AI in the financial markets. It focuses on so-called robo-advisors, autonomous trading systems that take on the role of human portfolio managers.

Long abstract:

The proposed paper investigates from an ethnographic perspective, the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the financial sector in the context of Germany, and the European Union more broadly. The study is framed by STS related questions pertaining to notions of enactment of AI and practices of prediction within regimes of anticipation. As a case study, the paper focuses on so-called robo-advisors, partly autonomous trading systems that take on the role of human portfolio managers and pursue quantitative investment strategies. While most decisions and market interactions have been automated, the human remains firmly 'in-the-loop'. Through these assemblages, of human and non-human actors, new forms of expertise emerge alongside more traditional economic knowledge, producing and engaging with new kinds of data to make and un-make markets. Concepts such as risk, responsibility, and accountability are re-negotiated and situated within new kinds of digital practices and infrastructures. The case of robo-advisors is of particular interest, as it intersects with a broader process of financialization and marketization by providing access to financial markets to private individuals or retail investors who seek to ensure retirements and pensions through Web applications or Smartphone apps. The proposed paper draws on work in progress and as such invites further discussion and comments on preliminary findings.