With the constant development in the fields of AI and compute learning, voice recognition and speech production technologies have seen some leaping progress in the past years. In an every-day setting, this is exemplified by the use of voice assistant systems at home – such as Alexa, Google Home, and Siri – which have gained tremendous popularity. Estimated statistics suggest that over 1/4 of the US adult population own some form of smart speaker device – that’s about 66 million people in the US alone (Perez, 2019).

The high demand of these home systems and voice assistants has in turn triggered a continuous effort to try and further develop them. More particularly, people want voice systems that are as human as possible. The obstacle of natural-language processing has been eminent in this field for years and continues to be the issue that creating the barrier between current voice systems and ones that are able to fully comprehend and produce language that is virtually indistinguishable from that produced by humans (English, 2019). For example, the many popular voice assistants require a “wake word” that triggers them to “listen” (for the iPhone its “Siri” for Amazon’s Alexa its “Alexa”), and this word must be repeated before everything that is aimed towards the voice assistant (Ciligot, 2019). But wouldn’t It be more convenient if, once activated, the voice assistant is able to distinguish conversation aimed at them or at others?

Improvement and increased use of these home voice systems come with a variety of benefits. Scheduling, smart homes and offices, hand-free driving, and entertainment are among the most popular uses for these systems, aiding people in little day-to-day tasks to increase efficiency and decrease the effort needed to execute them (Gerencer, 2019).

Do you have a voice assistant? How does it help you in your daily life?

Ciligot, C. (2019). 7 Key Predictions For The Future Of Voice Assistants And AI | Clearbridge. [online] Clearbridge Mobile. Available at: https://clearbridgemobile.com/7-key-predictions-for-the-future-of-voice-assistants-and-ai/ [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].

English, T. (2019). 6 Technology Trends That You Should Keep an Eye On in 2020. [online] Interestingengineering.com. Available at: https://interestingengineering.com/6-technology-trends-to-watch-in-2020 [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].

Gerencer, T. (2019). Top 10 Ways to Use Voice Assistants | HP® Tech Takes. [online] Store.hp.com. Available at: https://store.hp.com/app/tech-takes/top-10-ways-to-use-voice-assistants [Accessed 5 Oct. 2019].

Perez, S. (2019). Over a quarter of US adults now own a smart speaker, typically an Amazon Echo – TechCrunch. [online] TechCrunch. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/over-a-quarter-of-u-s-adults-now-own-a-smart-speaker-typically-an-amazon-echo/ [Accessed 3 Oct. 2019].

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Data Science are just a few of the latest trends that have recently emerged in the field of Information Technology (IT). However, the development of conversational software agents, also referred to as chatbots, can be traced back to the mid 1960’s with the introduction of the computer program ELIZA (Wiezenbaum, 1966). As the implementation of chatbots has progressively become easier, it cannot be denied that chatbots are one of the leading trends in IT nowadays. According to Deloitte (2018), “chatbots are a clear manifestation that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving the hype”. A recent study by Sweezey (2018) suggests that “69% of consumers prefer chatbots for quick communication with brands”. This perfectly demonstrates the emerging dominance of chatbots from a customer perspective.

Nowadays, voice assistants such as Siri, Alexa or Google home have become increasingly accepted and used by the vast majority of people therefore increasing the willingness to interact with such systems. However, when it comes to financial topics such as financial matters it becomes increasingly important to consider the customer perspective. Just recently, large US based banks, such as the Bank of America or  Wells Fargo, introduced chatbots to perform tasks such as offering information regarding saving options or checking an account balance (Legters, 2019). This helps banks to integrate several channels of data into one coherent stream shifting from a multichannel experience (e.g. e-mail, phone, live chat, online banking) to a single stream of data that is easier to manage (Legters, 2019). While this seems like a good solution for both the organization and the customer, aspects other than efficacy should be considered. For instance, customers may be opposed to the idea of providing personal information to an online system. This has shown to be especially true when it comes to new technologies and primarily in older or inexperienced customers.

What is your opinion on chatbots in banking? Does your bank already use chatbots?

Let me know in the comments!

Legters, B. (2019). Chatbots in Banking Got Smart. This is How They’ll Make Your Bank Better. [online] Forbes.com. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/boblegters/2019/07/15/chatbots-in-banking-got-smart-this-is-how-theyll-make-your-bank-better/#5208aa9870a7 [Accessed 1 Oct. 2019].

Sweezey, M. (2018, January 29). 69% of Consumers Prefer Chatbots For Quick Communication with Brands. Retrieved from: https://www.salesforce.com/blog/2018/01/why-consumers-prefer-chatbots.html.

Weizenbaum, J. (1966). ELIZA—a computer program for the study of natural language communication between man and machine. Communications of the ACM, 9(1), 36-45.