Big banks are scrambling to work out what to do with generative artificial intelligence: how to use it to make some of their people smarter, liberate others to focus solely on higher-value tasks, accelerate data ingestion, processing and decision-making while cutting costs. Every bank fears their competitors getting good at AI before they do.

Bay Area venture capitalists have a different warning, though: Lenders are missing the threat from everywhere else. "For banks, when I talk about AI, I tell them: What you should be worried about is what if it works?" Angela Strange, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, told me recently.

What if AI in the hands of bank customers automates the dull work of shopping for the best rates on simple financial products at irresistible speeds? It probably won’t be long before generative AI bots can look after our money with utmost efficiency. Great for customers, but not so much for banks.