Chatbots just the beginning for AI in banking
Over the two years since professional Go player Lee Sedol was defeated by AlphaGo, a computer program created by Google’s DeepMind, artificial intelligence (AI) has continued its rapid march.
Technology systems using machine learning are controlling distribution centres, monitoring energy systems and diagnosing serious medical conditions. Voice-activated digital assistants being rolled out by tech giants are powered by natural language processing, an area of AI.
The banking sector is also accelerating its adoption of AI.
Over the past year, many experiments have moved into production. The technology is being used to deliver personalised banking experiences to customers and helping bank staff make better decisions.
An initial AI deployment in banking is the “chatbot”. This lets customers text or ask questions on their smartphones, saving them the hassle of having to go to a branch, search complex product terms on a website, or get passed around a call centre.
Virtual bankers
National Australia Bank’s “virtual banker” can recognise 13,000 variations of 200 common questions from its business banking customers, while NAB’s digital bank UBank has created RoboChat with IBM Watson to respond to questions on home loans.
Commonwealth Bank launched a chatbot called Ceba in January; by the end of the year, it expects it will understand 500,000 ways customers might ask for 500 different banking activities.
The nation’s largest credit union, CUA, is piloting a chatbot with ASX-listed Flamingo. ANZ Banking Group has created biometric voice capability with technology company Nuance to allow customers to bank by talking to the app.
AI is also being used to lift productivity by crunching big data.
Westpac Banking Corp is working with local start-up Hyper Anna, whose technology uses AI to conduct data analytics and visualisation. The bank’s VC fund, Reinventure Group, has a strategic stake in Hyper Anna, which recently attracted capital from Sequoia China.
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Source: Chatbots just the beginning for AI in banking | afr.com
