THE FUNCTIONAL AND INVESTMENT ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE FINANCIAL SECTOR

The study aims to shed light on the applications and impact of artificial intelligence in the field of financial operations (my usage – investment), by examining the effect of this variable on the current financial industry and its role in enhancing the value of technology companies that choose to invest in it. To achieve the study's objectives, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was used over the period from March 2019 to June 2025 on key indicative metrics. The study concluded that there is a weak transitional effect in the extension of the equilibrium relationship from the short term to the long term between the use and development of artificial intelligence, represented by the STOXX Global AI Innovators index, and the AltFi Fintech financial index. It was also found that investment in artificial intelligence technologies (through the STOXX Global AI Innovators index) significantly influences the increase in market value of technology companies listed on the Nasdaq Composite index, regardless of the investment horizon. The study, therefore, recommends periodic evaluations of the effects and integration of AI in both micro and macro finance.