OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, has won over millions of users for its ability to generate long prose based on short prompts.
Despite its rapid adoption, the chatbot is not without its problems. The tool can sometimes make mistakes or “hallucinate,” analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a note last month. At the time, analysts wrote that ChatGPT could “generate answers that appear convincing but are actually wrong.”
Still, that hasn’t stopped Morgan Stanley from testing an OpenAI-based chatbot with its financial advisors. The goal is to help advisers make the most of the bank’s vast library of research and data resources, the company said Tuesday.
The experiment aims to “help investment professionals sift through thousands of pages of our in-depth intellectual capital, analyst commentary and market research in seconds – a process that can typically take more than half an hour,” Morgan Stanley Wealth chief Management analytics and data, said Jeff McMillan Wealth. “This will help advisers spend more time focusing on serving their clients.”
The tool will use the latest version of the technology, GPT-4, which launched on Tuesday. Currently being tested with 300 advisers, CNBC report, and when rolled out more widely, will help all 16,000 Morgan Stanley advisors.
The move marks the first known use of ChatGPT in the banking sector, which has faced a turbulent few days amid the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank. In the fintech space, Stripe, an online payment processing company, is also testing a fraud-fighting version of ChatGPT.
Morgan Stanley is no stranger to the use of artificial intelligence. It currently uses it to understand and cater to clients’ needs by connecting them with the right financial advisors.
The bank’s use of GPT-4 will aim to support human advisors much like a research assistant. But it shouldn’t replace human advisors, who are still needed to interact with customers.
“These things (AI tools) don’t have any empathy; they’re just very smart math that’s able to retrieve knowledge,” McMillan said CNBC.
While Morgan Stanley analysts acknowledged ChatGPT’s struggles with accuracy, they didn’t write off the technology entirely. In a February note, they wrote that “AI hype is worth serious consideration” and that it has “real market potential.”
McMillan said using ChatGPT in banks comes with inevitable complications. For example, the banking business is highly regulated and involves the vital function of handling people’s money.
“What makes the work we do particularly interesting is that it’s no small feat to integrate technology into a highly complex and regulated environment like ours, and to do so with the appropriate controls in place,” McMillan said Wealth.
OpenAI did not immediately return Wealthrequest for comment.
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