OCBC announced that it will deploy a generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot to its 30,000 employees globally in November 2023. The chatbot, powered by ChatGPT’s Large Language Models, will help employees with writing, research, and ideation.
The OCBC ChatGPT was developed in collaboration with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI and is hosted in a secure and controlled environment. Information entered by OCBC staff is kept within the bank and will not be shared with Microsoft or any external parties.
A six-month trial involving about 1,000 OCBC staff across multiple functions including investment research, product management and marketing showed that the chatbot can help employees complete their tasks about 50% faster than previously.
Prior to the launch of the chatbot, OCBC had deployed several generative AI productivity tools to develop code, summarise documents, transcribe calls, and create an internal knowledge base. These tools have also boosted productivity by as high as 50%.
Currently, more than four million decisions are made by AI in the bank daily in processes such as risk management, customer service, and sales. This is projected to increase to 10 million by 2025.
AI is also used to push personalised recommendations and insights to customers through the mobile banking app. 250 million of these insights are sent yearly to help customers save time and effort as well as improve their financial management.
Additionally, the bank has also harnessed AI to enhance its anti-money laundering efforts. Through an AI-powered platform, OCBC can quickly analyse customer profiles and networks, identifying suspicious communities and transactions.
Donald MacDonald, OCBC’s Head of Group Data Office said,
“We are excited to be one of the first banks in the world to deploy generative AI tools at scale. We believe that these tools have the potential to transform the way our employees work by automating a wide range of time consuming tasks, freeing up their time to focus on more strategic and value-added work. This in turn helps us provide better customer service by spending more time building relationships with customers and developing innovative products and services.”