OpenAIs chatbot, ChatGPT, had gained millions of users for its ability to create long prose based on short prompts.
Despite its rapid adoption, the chatbot isnt without its problems. The tool can sometimes make errors, or hallucinate, analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a note last month. At the time, the analysts wrote that ChatGPT can generate answers that are seemingly convincing, but are actually wrong.
Yet that hasnt stopped Morgan Stanley from testing an OpenAI-powered chatbot with its financial advisors. The goal is to help the advisors make the most of the banks huge library of research and data resources, the company announced Tuesday.
The experiment is aimed at helping investment professionals parse through thousands of pages of our in-depth intellectual capital, analyst commentary, and market research in seconds a process that typically could take more than half an hour, Morgan Stanley Wealth Managements head of analytics and data, Jeff McMillan told Fortune. This will help advisors spend more time focusing on serving their clients.
The tool will use the technologys latest version, GPT-4, which launched on Tuesday. Its currently being tested with 300 advisors, CNBC reported, and when released more broadly, will aid all of Morgan Stanleys 16,000 advisors.
The move marks the first known use of ChatGPT in the banking sector, which has faced a tumultuous few days amid the failure of Silicon Valley Bank. In the financial technology space, Stripe, an online payments processing company, is also testing a version of ChatGPT to fight fraud.
Morgan Stanley is no stranger to using artificial intelligence. It currently uses it to understand and cater to client needs by matching them with the right financial advisors.
The banks use of GPT-4 will be intended to assist human advisors, much like a research assistant would. But its not supposed to replace human advisors, who are still needed to interact with clients.
These things (A.I. tools) dont have any empathy; theyre just very clever math that is able to regurgitate knowledge, McMillan told CNBC.
Even though Morgan Stanleys analysts acknowledged the ChatGPTs struggle with accuracy, they didnt write off the technology entirely. In a February note, they wrote that the A.I. hype is worth considering seriously and that it had real market potential.
McMillan said that using ChatGPT in banks comes with inevitable complications. For example, the banking business is highly regulated and involves the vital function of handling peoples money.
What makes the work were doing particularly interesting is that it is no small feat to integrate technology into a highly complex and regulated environment like ours, and to do so with the appropriate controls installed, McMillan told Fortune.
OpenAI did not immediately return Fortunes request for comment.
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