Banks and fintech firms are diving headfirst into the shimmering pool of generative AI, singing its praises like a choir of tech-savvy canaries. At the Money 20/20 fintech conference in Amsterdam, the enthusiasm was palpable as they hailed this technology as an “explosion of innovation.” You’d think it was the second coming of the internet itself. But let’s hold our horses, shall we?
Chalapathy Neti, Swift’s head of AI, was practically giddy about the “mind-boggling” progress made with GPT-4 and ChatGPT. And yes, these models are impressive – I’ll give them that. But as with any transformative technology, it’s not all roses and rainbows. Banks are scrambling to figure out how to actually use this shiny new toy, and that’s where the rubber meets the road.
ABN Amro, that Dutch banking behemoth, is one of the early adopters. Annerie Vreugdenhil, who oversees the bank’s personal and business banking division, spilled the beans at the conference. The bank is piloting generative AI to automatically summarise conversations between bank staff and customers, a move that could revolutionise customer service. But it’s not just about parroting back conversation summaries. The bank is also using the technology to gather data on customers to assist with answering queries and avoiding repetitive questions. A noble goal indeed, but let’s hope they’re not about to turn their customer service into an episode of “Groundhog Day.”
So yes, there’s a lot of excitement about generative AI, and rightly so. But let’s not forget that with great power comes great responsibility. As the technology continues to evolve and transform the way we do business, it’s crucial to navigate its potential pitfalls and risks with care. Or, in other words, let’s not get so blinded by the shiny new toy that we trip over the toy box12.
