Customers flock to question AI banker
ANZ is increasing the workload for its artificial intelligence technology but promises the customer service tool won’t put front-line bankers out of work.
Launched in July, ANZ New Zealand’s ‘‘digital assistant’’, called Jamie, was initially programmed to answer questions on the 30 most frequently searched topics on the bank’s website.
In her first 100 days Jamie had more than 12,000 conversations with people visiting the site, with the most common question being how to open a bank account, which Jamie was asked nearly 1200 times.
ANZ is planning to increase her ability to answer questions on more topics and include some te reo Ma¯ ori in her vocabulary.
At this stage the queries Jamie helps with are of a general nature only. She does not ask for any personal information, or customer number.
But ANZ head of digital and transformation Liz Maguire said it would be just ‘‘a couple of years’’ before Jamie was carrying out personal banking tasks.
‘‘When you’re driving in the car you might go: ‘Hey, Jamie, I really need to pay the babysitter $50.’ And Jamie does that for you,’’ Maguire said.
ANZ staff were positive about the roll-out of artificial intelligence and their jobs were not at risk, she said.
‘‘There is no intention to use Jamie to replace our front-line bankers.’’
Maguire said it was unlikely Jamie would be used in any of its branches.
‘‘I think that would be a bit weird. We know there are very clear times when customers wish to speak to
bankers about things that are quite important parts of their financial lives.’’
Jamie, who was developed with technology company Soul Machines, could interact through devices via a webcam and microphone or by typing.
The entity had been asked about her favourite movie 241 times, whether she likes turtles, what’s in her fridge, what sort of tea she likes and who her favourite New Zealand geologist is.
So far she has been able to answer about 60 per cent of customer queries.
‘‘For the next part of the pilot, we’ll be making her more knowledgeable so she can answer even more questions – about banking and other things,’’ Maguire said.
ANZ was working on developing Jamie to be able to talk about exchange rates and interest rates in real time, she said.
Jamie was constantly learning and being regularly updated with new information based on customer questions and feedback.
Her te reo Ma¯ ori vocabulary would include phrases such as te¯ na¯ koe (hello), ka rawe (excellent), and ma¯ te wa¯ (time). Other languages may be added. Jamie was a ‘‘work in progress’’, but improving all the time, Maguire said.