Computer says no? A robot may decide who gets next bank bailout

Pedestrians walk past a bank branch of NatWest Group Plc on Queen Street in Cardiff, UK. The AI tool, described in a new peer-reviewed paper in Nature Communications, was tested by the authors using data from the European Banking Authority on a network of 35 European financial institutions. — Bloomberg

Governments could soon predict whether a bank bailout will ultimately save taxpayer money using an artificial intelligence tool developed at two London universities.

Researchers at UCL and Queen Mary University of London have built an algorithm that assesses whether a bailout is the best strategy for the public purse, according to a UCL release on Nov 17. It also suggests which firms should be saved as well as how much money should be spent.