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Zhang is developing a state-of-the-art AI methodology for forecasting market movements. These methods will manage risk while optimizing return on investment, allowing clients on both Wall Street and Main Street to confidently manage their wealth.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

PERMEATING MODERN LIFE

written by MOLLY STEVENS ’20

The term artificial intelligent (AI) may evoke images of sentient computers or lifelike robots, elements of science fiction on the cusp of becoming reality. However, many of us already interact with AI—an umbrella term for computational approximation of human intelligence—on a daily basis. Consider how often you ask Siri or Alexa a question, use predictive text to finish a sentence on your smartphone, or watch whatever show Netflix suggests. AI has only recently begun to permeate all aspects of society, but the technology is far from new. Professor Zhu (Drew) Zhang, the Alfred J. Verrecchia Endowed Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics, has dedicated more than 20 years of his life to the study and advancement of AI. The University of Rhode Island (URI) researcher boasts an innovative body of work on AI, spanning from financial markets to health care. As a part of the URI College of Business, Zhang has spent much of his time focusing on the marketing and finance applications of AI. One of his current projects uses what he explains as “textural data, more specifically mining news data, to forecast market movements, for example the volatility of the financial market.” Money managers use combinations of fundamental and technical analysis to predict trends in the stock market and invest their clients’ wealth accordingly. Despite their expertise, less than 10% of actively managed funds have outperformed the U.S. stock market in the last two decades. With more than 60% of the population investing their hard earned money in stocks, it is crucial to have tools to make the best possible investments. Zhang is developing a state-of-the art AI methodology for forecasting market movements. These methods will manage risk while optimizing return on investment, allowing clients on both Wall Street and Main Street to confidently manage their wealth. Other business applications of his AI research include predicting product sales by mining social media data.

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