Bank of America intends to spend $4 billion on new initiatives, including artificial intelligence, in the current year.
The mentioned information is contained in a press release that was published last Tuesday, April 8, by the specified financial institution, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is worth noting that the amount of $4 billion is almost a third of the bank’s entire technology budget for the current year.
According to the media outlet, the mentioned investments were announced after the financial institution recorded positive results in implementing the practice of using artificial intelligence and machine learning since 2018. Seven years ago, the bank launched a virtual assistant powered by digital intelligence. This product is named Erica. The virtual assistant helps consumers with financial matters. It is worth noting separately that Erica was launched four years before the debut of ChatGPT from OpenAI, which became a kind of initial stage of the so-called artificial intelligence boom.
Bank of America stated that the virtual assistant operation process has generated several positive results. The financial institution has published information according to which Erica for Employees, an internal artificial intelligence chatbot built on the customer-facing Erica, is used by more than 90% of the bank’s 213,000 employees. Against this background, the number of IT support calls has declined. This indicator showed a decrease of more than 50%.
Bank of America developers using a generative artificial intelligence-based coding assistant announced a 20% increase in efficiency.
Employees of a financial institution also save tens of thousands of hours per year by leveraging machine intelligence to prepare materials for meetings with business clients, which they redirect toward customer engagement.
Bank of America customer service representatives are using an artificial intelligence tool to deliver a more personalized interaction with clients. In this case, the call handling times are reduced.
Sales and trading teams leverage a generative artificial intelligence platform developed internally to search and summarize Bank of America research and market commentary more quickly and efficiently.
The bank’s experience confirms the significant impact of machine intelligence on the financial services sector. Also, this example, as noted by the media, can be taken as an example by other lenders that are just beginning the process of leveraging artificial intelligence as part of their activities.,
Bank of America’s investments in technology are part of the financial institution’s broader strategy to embed machine intelligence across its operations to boost efficiency, employee productivity, and customer service.
The data released by the bank shows that since the launch of Erica, it has handled more than 2.5 billion interactions and serves 20 million active users. The financial institution introduced an internal version of the virtual assistant in 2020. Erica gained traction during the coronavirus pandemic. Initially, the virtual assistant helped staff with IT support tasks like password resets and device activations. Erica currently offers assistance to consumers across a wide range of topics, including health benefits and payroll forms.
This year, the financial institution intends to further expand the capabilities of Erica for Employees. The bank to incorporate generative artificial intelligence into a virtual assistant to help workers more easily access information about its products and services, among others.
Bank of America’s professional development arm, known as The Academy, also uses machine intelligence to train employees. Last year, staff completed more than 1 million simulated customer interactions, receiving real-time feedback designed to help them provide better service.
Tools like askMerrill and askPrivate Banking, which apply the same artificial intelligence technology behind Erica, also demonstrate growing use. Last year, there were more than 23 million interactions. This figure is 1 million higher than the reading recorded in 2023. It is worth clarifying that askMerrill and askPrivate Banking help specialist teams locate relevant information. Also in this case, if necessary, the user can apply the option to escalate queries to human experts.
Moreover, Bank of America uses artificial intelligence to process customer feedback at scale. The financial institution’s call centers have deployed a generative artificial intelligence system that summarizes client conversations, reducing the need for manual transcription.
Aditya Bhasin, Bank of America’s chief technology and information officer, stated that machine intelligence is having a transformative effect on employee efficiency and operational excellence. It was also noted that the financial institution’s practice of using artificial intelligence at scale and around the world enables the lender to further enhance its capabilities, improve employee productivity and client service, and drive business growth.
Bank of America said it holds about 7,400 patents and pending applications, including more than 1,200 focused on AI and machine learning.
It is highly likely that the practice of using artificial intelligence in the banking sector will scale. The main advantages in this case are automation of routine tasks, increasing the level of efficiency, growing productivity, and raising the accuracy of operations.
It is worth noting that against the background of the integration of artificial intelligence into various industries, the issue of cybersecurity has become more relevant. Scammers also have access to AI tools. For this reason, their activities have become more sophisticated. To counter the mentioned threat in the virtual space, personal awareness of users is important. For example, an Internet search query such as how to know if my camera is hacked will allow anyone to get information about signs of unauthorized access to a personal device.
