ANZ Digital Assistant can outsmart her human counterparts

Venkat Raman

If you are an ANZ Bank customer, chances are that your queries will be answered by ‘Jamie,’ the latest ‘Customer Services Officer.’

She is polite, prompt and almost human. See (+ video)

Jamie is the new Digital Assistant who started work today helping customers with some of their general banking queries.

She may not be able to answer personal questions such as your bank balance, approval of loans and process and such sensitive information.

However, she has been programmed to answer at least 30 most-frequently asked questions.

The ANZ Help Section ‘employee’ has a human face, voice and expressions. But she would not have mood swings, unlike her counterparts in flesh and blood.

She is on trial at https://help.anz.co.nz and if the demonstration video is any indication, Jamie would excel in her performance.

AI at its best

ANZ partnered with ‘Soul Machines,’ a New Zealand technology company, known worldwide for humanising artificial intelligence to create Jamie.

ANZ Digital & Transformation Liz Maguire Liz Maguire said that the Bank was keen to observe if Jamie will appeal to people might not be as comfortable using our other digital channels.

“While we know that many of our customers love connecting through our existing digital channels, we have been talking face-to-face a lot longer than we’ve been using small screens,” she said.

Soul Machines Chief Business Officer Greg Cross said that ‘Project Jamie’ enabled his company to understand some of the benefits that could be delivered to the customers of ANZ, including the fact that they can talk to somebody immediately.

Personal interaction

“It is a personal interaction; it is a face-to-face interaction,” he said.

Jamie has a digital human face and persona, and is ‘brought to life’ using Soul Machines’ world-leading Human Computing Engine (HCE), a virtual nervous system modelled on the way the human brain and nervous system work.

The HCE allows Jamie to express personality and character in a human-like way.

The Bank said that initial feedback from staff and customers has been positive.

Around 90% of customers who have spoken to Jamie think it is a good idea for ANZ to introduce the technology.

“How we move forward will be guided by what our customers and staff tell us they want. We are excited to s how Jamie to more of our customers and get their feedback,” Ms Maguire said.