Hana Financial Group unveils AI code of ethics

The group's ethics code for artificial intelligence focuses on consumer safety an transparency.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, center, holds a copy of the company’s ethics code during the Hana AI Leaders Forum held at the company headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP]

Hana Financial Group released a code of ethics for artificial intelligence (AI) as part of its effort to bolster consumer protection in digital finance.

Hana said on Wednesday the code is designed to provide safer and fairer financial AI services amid the intensifying digital era in which “existential risks are growing.”

Five principles underlying the ethics code are tolerance and fairness, safety and responsibility, transparency, data management and protection of privacy.

The ethics code was announced in a forum attended by Hana Financial Group employees and executives overseeing AI at Hana affiliates, including Hana Bank, Hana Securities, Hana Card and Hana TI at the group's headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday.

“The digital transformation is accelerating in the financial industry and AI is naturally permeating into our livelihoods,” said Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo in a statement.

He pledged that Hana will strengthen its capability to develop financial services featuring AI in a bid to advance the finance industry.

Hana created a department dedicated to internalizing AI technologies, which used to be a task force team. It also runs an IT education program designed to cultivate talent in the rapidly evolving IT sector amid ongoing digitization.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]