The FCA says it is moving quickly from discussion to testing, assurance, monitoring and surveillance of AI deployments. Its AI Lab is being used to understand applications ranging from agent-led payments and fraud detection to consumer support, while the regulator highlights the growing use of general-purpose AI tools for financial information.
This matters to mortgage and protection advisers using AI for research, client communications, document triage or lead qualification. The FCA’s central concern is that consumers may confuse unregulated AI-generated information with regulated advice and may not understand the limits of redress. Firms should maintain human oversight, clear client-facing disclosures, robust records and controls over data, prompts and generated content.
Practical priority: treat AI as an assistive tool, not a replacement for suitability assessments, affordability analysis or professional judgement.