What 170 years of innovation can teach us about AI
A lot has changed in the banking industry over the past 170 years.
And few colleagues at the Bank understand that better than Amy Korczynski, Curator, Corporate Heritage, TD. Korczynski is the in-house archivist at TD. Think of her as the memory of the organization, who works to preserve and share the Bank's rich history.
A visit to the TD archives reveals a treasure trove of paraphernalia and precious objects that help tell the Bank's many stories: sturdy wooden desks, genuine mid-century Mies van de Rohe (the architect behind TD Tower) Barcelona chairs, and a seemingly infinite number of documents — from newspaper clippings and in-house magazines to internal meeting notes and PowerPoint presentations.
When viewed through the lens of technological advancement, these materials illustrate one of the Bank's throughlines over nearly two centuries: constant innovation.
In the current AI era, it might feel like the pace of change is fast — and it is. The archives, however, remind us that adopting and adapting to new technology is something we've already done many times over. Through research, Korczynski helps teams throughout TD understand the past so they can make more informed business decisions today.
The pace of innovation really began to ramp up in the mid-20th century. Cheque processing, a formerly arduous process, was automated. Next came the Chargex card — the Bank's first-ever credit card (1968) — followed by technology like ATMs (known as Green Machines at TD) in 1976, debit cards, phone banking, a web presence (1995), digital banking (1995), and now, AI.
The introduction of each new technology or automated process came with plenty of speculation and friction as customers, and Canadian society as a whole, adapted to new ways of doing things.
A Globe and Mail article from Dec. 5, 1985, discussed the possibility of a cashless society based on the imminent arrival of "plastic cards that will reduce the need for cash and cheques." Articles a decade later raised concerns about the cybersecurity implications and potential job losses caused by the introduction of online banking.
The stories are eerily similar to the many being published today at the dawn of the AI era.
While no one knows for certain how AI will change banking in the long run, Korczynski joins host Grant McDonald on The Banking on AI Podcast to chat about what we can learn from innovations past. Plus, she shares a peek inside her day-to-day stewarding the history of a 170-year-old institution.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.