We recently sat down with the American Banker to discuss the opportunity that Generative AI presents in customer service for Financial Institutions. A recent study by Corporate Insight found that most bank chatbots today fall short in providing comprehensive financial advice and handling informal language. Why is that?
 
There is no question that large Language Models (LLMs) present new opportunities for client servicing unparallel to what we have seen before. The ability for an AI to converse in natural language and drive an inquiry to an outcome opens the door for personalized servicing at scale, and, for many industries, this is ground-breaking. At RBC, we understand the power of putting financial insights directly into our client’s hands.  In 2017, we launched NOMI, an AI assistant in the Mobile app and in 2021, NOMI Forecast, an award-winning digital money management capability for our clients.  These are tools that Canadians use to stay on top of their finances, and they are powered by state-of-the-art machine learning.
 
When it comes to Generative AI for customer-faced applications, we are working to ensure that this technology meets our safety, privacy and overall servicing standards. The risks associated with Gen AI are well understood, and our core belief is that human oversight is paramount. As I highlighted in this article, RBC is taking a cautious approach to AI integration, emphasizing the importance of responsible AI and human control.
 
In the near term, we see opportunities for LLMs to support our agents and financial advisors in navigating complex policies and procedures while servicing our clients. Back-office support and the ability to arrive at the right information quickly are at the centre of real-time servicing and an application area where LLM technology lends itself safely.

As part of our commitment to advancing the development of responsible AI and Machine Learning, we have developed RESPECT AI TM, an online hub launched in 2020 that brings open-source research code, tutorials, academic research and lectures to the AI community, helping to make ethical AI available to all.

This article encapsulates the recent American Banker’s report on the gap between bank chatbots and advanced AI systems, the challenges faced by banks in AI integration, and RBC’s approach to cautious AI deployment, reflecting our commitment to safe and innovative AI-powered solutions. For more information, you can read American Banker’s article here: Banks grapple with capability gap between their chatbots and ChatGPT. Please note a subscription is needed to access the complete article.