Google’s new voice assistant tool, Duplex, has stirred up quite the controversy about the use of advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Is all the money spent on AI even worth it for banks?
Google Duplex: a gift for banks, a gift for hackers?
When Google recently unveiled Duplex, its new voice assistant technology, it was hard not to be impressed. The demo showed the bot assistant making calls on its owner’s behalf, booking them appointments and tables in restaurants. The list of possible uses in the financial services sector is endless – and so is the list of security concerns, especially when it comes to authentication.
Not to mention that there are customer life events and situations when a bot like Google Duplex can be a downright terrible idea. As Eric Smith, chief data and analytics officer at USAA told the American Banker, these can include handling a death in the family or when a customer has lost everything in a hurricane.
Banks have work to do before using AI tools
Tons of cash is spent on artificial intelligence. Retail is the biggest spender but banking is not far behind. Is it a waste of money? Or are the challenges still too big? The Financial Brand wonders.
Banking service providers are hoping AI will help them cut costs, better customer experience and ramp up profits. But as a banking executive admitted, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using AI for the sake of using AI. “All financial services firms have work to do before they can even determine how best to employ intelligent tools,” another banker said.
Digitization and analytics are the answer in corporate banking too
Challengers are eyeing the highly profitable origination/sales and payments sector in corporate banking, according to McKinsey. So what should corporate banks do to keep their market share and broaden revenue pools?
Building the corporate bank of the future should include digitizing processes end-to-end for better customer satisfaction and lower costs, as well as improving advanced-analytics capabilities “to close the gap with Silicon Valley’s customer centricity,” McKinsey points out.
Are your ready to disrupt yourself?
Digital transformation in banking goes far beyond technology: people and organizations also need to embrace change, take chances and be ready to disrupt themselves. But is everybody up for this challenge? Jim Marous asks in The Financial Brand.
