Swiss bank UBS has rolled out AI-powered avatars of its analysts that use their likeness to deliver news to clients, according to The Financial Times. The goal is to increase employee productivity and meet a growing demand from clients for short-form video content that summarizes research over traditional written reports.
UBS has started using artificial intelligence to turn its analysts into avatars, sending videos of the simulated bankers to clients in a move the lender said would free up staff to focus on more productive tasks.
The Zurich-based bank is using OpenAI and Synthesia models to create AI-generated scripts and avatars of its analysts following increased client demand for research in video format, UBS said. The Swiss bank plans to create 5,000 AI-generated videos annually.
The avatars UBS is creating of its analysts are similar to AI deepfakes, or realistic AI-generated videos, audio or images of people. To create the AI avatars, UBS analysts go into a studio, where Synthesia captures their likeness and voice.
To create a video, UBS analysts can use a language model to analyse their reports and generate a script. They can then review the script before it is turned into a lifelike video using their avatar.
While the use of AI avatars could raise questions around transparency and authenticity, UBS said it would never “mislead or try and pass this off as a real analyst”.
“Right throughout the video, you’ll see at the bottom, it says, ‘this content was created using AI’. It’s in no way trying to replace the flesh and blood analyst,” Scott Solomon, head of global research technology at UBS’s investment bank, told the Financial Times.
The initiative mirrors other AI investments and cost-cutting measures taken by competitors Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
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