The Dutch pension sector is “taking serious steps” towards a controlled and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), the Dutch Pension Federation has said.

In a response to the European Commission’s consultation on the application of AI in the financial sector, the association said it “recognises the great potential of AI for improving services to pension fund participants”. The sector is therefore taking serious steps towards responsible and controlled application of AI.

The consultation responses will help the European Commission to provide guidance to the financial sector for the application of the AI Act.

Pension funds in the Netherlands are working on policy frameworks, based on guidelines from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Dutch Pension Federation’s draft Code of Conduct on AI & Ethics for the sector.

This code of conduct provides principles for how AI technology can be embedded in the governance of AI applications and in the organisational culture. It provides principles for how AI can be applied responsibly in the Dutch pension sector. In doing so, the sector is implementing the recent European AI Act .

“In our position paper we explain how policy frameworks are used when applying AI in pension administration. The main AI applications in communication and administration are similar to those in other sectors. Pension administrators therefore build on existing solutions as much as possible,” the association said.

“Based on our experience, we provide points of attention for possible additional European initiatives on the application of AI in the financial sector. We advocate a principle-based, risk-based and stakeholder-driven approach with an eye for proportionality. Any legislation should pay attention to sector-specific applications of AI and offer tailor-made solutions for the specificity of pension administration.”

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