BLOCKCHAIN, AI, INTERNET OF THINGS ‘ABOUT TO HIT US’

Royal Bank of Canada chief executive Dave Mckay, pictured, said he sees blockchain maturation, the spread of artificial intelligence and the so-called internet of things as three big technological developments that will change banking. Blockchain and digital coins aren’t fully mature yet, but they will continue to evolve, Mckay said. AI, which Royal Bank already has embedded in a trading platform, will expand to more and more decisions, and more data will be affected by machine learning, he said. The advent of fifth-generation telecommunications networks and the internet of things — a term used to describe the growing number of devices and appliances connected to the internet — represent a combined “transformational technology that are about to hit us,” Mckay said.