In rapidly changing financial markets, data, information, and communication are paramount. Enter chatbots and artificial intelligence (AI), which are transforming and accelerating the industry in various ways. In this blog, we explore the role of chatbots and AI in financial markets and how they are changing the landscape of the industry.
The use of chatbots and AI has revolutionised the financial market industry, streamlining various aspects of the trading life cycle, from price discovery to trade reconciliation. Chatbots have also transformed the way financial institutions interact with their clients. By using chat applications like Bloomberg IB chat, Symphony, Teams, Slack and WhatsApp, clients can conduct financial transactions, get real-time updates, and receive quick answers to their queries without having to leave their preferred chat platform.
AI, on the other hand, has made it easier for financial institutions to analyse vast amounts of data in real-time, enabling informed decision-making. With the latest advancements in machine learning, chatbots are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Here are some examples of chatbots and AI being used in financial services:
Bank of America - Erica, an AI-powered virtual assistant, helps customers with account balance information, transaction details, and even financial advice.
JP Morgan Chase - COIN, an ML-based chatbot, reviews complex legal documents and extracts critical information reducing the time and effort spent reviewing legal documents.
Goldman Sachs - Launched a chatbot that provides personalized investment advice based on customers' data, preferences and risk profiles.
These examples are just the beginning however, with ChatGPT4 due for release later this year, expect the sophistication and human-like responses of AI-powered chatbot use cases are set to grow exponentially.
ChatGPT is a language model that has been making waves in the financial market industry since its launch in November 2022. It operates on a large language model (LLM) called GPT3.5, while the upcoming release of GPT4 is expected to be 500x larger than GPT3, using 100 trillion parameters, which is as many parameters as the human brain has synapses.
With its human-like responses and easy-to-use chat interface, ChatGPT is attracting millions of users globally. It is the most rapidly growing application of all time, gaining 100m users within 1 month, and early reports indicate that GPT4 may pass the Turing test, a milestone where AI can fool a person into thinking it possesses human intelligence.
It's easy to see why the world is very excited by this breakthrough AI technology!
Until now, chatbots have thrived in easy-to-define workflow, syntax and processes.
Historically financial market workflows have conformed around a consistent or standardised syntax, which to-date people are happy to use, as there are only so many ways to ask for a price in a chat or request some reference data. However, this approach does rely on predefined syntax to recognize specific keywords and phrases and pre-determined responses based on those inputs. This is about to change.
ChatGPT's ability to handle very complex queries using an advanced language model means that it will no longer be a requirement to use pre-determined syntax and responses.
In these use cases, ChatGPT adoption will improve customer experience by providing personalised and relevant responses to client queries by understanding the nuances of human language. The AI-powered chatbot can learn from previous interactions to improve accuracy, relevance, and user experience.
Already, the use of chatbots and AI has improved the efficiency and productivity of financial institutions. Chatbots can help clients self-serve information, reducing the need for them to bother salespeople, traders or prime brokerage desks leaving them to focus on high-value work. FOW's chatbot, powered by ipushpull, has significantly increased the productivity of both investment bank users and their clients. While AI can help middle and back-office processes, such as legal compliance, accounting, and procurement, making existing staff more efficient which reduces the need for headcount.
Here are some areas where ChatGPT may have a significant impact on financial markets:
Though an $11 billion investment, Microsoft is a 49% shareholder in ChatGPT's creator, OpenAI. Through the partnership, ChatGPT has already been integrated into:
Microsoft Teams currently has more than 300 million users, dwarfing financial market-specific chat applications like Bloomberg IB chat, Symphony and ICE messenger. The big tech company has already made moves into financial markets with an investment of $2 billion into LSEG, the London Stock Exchange Group, or 4% of the company.
All eyes are on this partnership, to see if LSEG’s financial market data, trading applications and existing messaging tools will integrate into ChatGPT and Microsoft Teams. Will this herald a new era for the 300-year-old institution?
Chatbots and AI have revolutionized the financial market industry, providing solutions to some of its biggest challenges. The use of chatbots has improved how financial institutions interact with their clients, and AI has improved efficiency and productivity. As the technology becomes more prevalent in the industry, financial institutions that adopt it early will have a competitive advantage. While the arrival of GPT4 will shake up the industry even further.
The tantalising AI tipping point that ChatGPT provides means the future of chatbots and AI in financial markets is bright.
Listen to the full podcast now. For more information on how ipushpull enables chatbots, data integration and our plans with GPT head over to our chatbots page.