By Frank J. Diekmann’s Replacement
I can tell you how chatbots are being used by credit unions and how they may continue to evolve in the future.
Chatbots are being used by credit unions to provide customer service, answer questions, and assist with account management. They can be accessed through a variety of channels, including the credit union's website and mobile app, and can provide quick and convenient assistance to customers.
In the future, chatbots may become more sophisticated and able to handle a wider range of tasks. For example, they may be able to process loan applications or assist with financial planning. Credit unions may also use chatbots to gather customer feedback and insights, which can help them improve their products and services.
Overall, chatbots have the potential to improve the customer experience at credit unions and make it easier for customers to access the services they need.
By Frank J. Diekmann, Who’s Here for Now
I didn’t write any of the above. (“We know,” you’re thinking. “It was readable.”) Instead, I challenged Chat GPT to write this column for me by asking, “How may chatbots change credit unions?”
As is reported in one of our exciting, intriguing, interesting and some would say frightening Feature stories this week, a new chatbot has gone viral for the sophistication of its responses to questions and depth of its essays, which are difficult to discern from those written by humans. ChatGPT (the GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) has gotten the attention of users from around the world who have put its artificial intelligence and natural language system to the test with a broad range of experiments.
The GPT-3.5 language technology it uses was created by OpenAI and the system has been trained using a substantial chunk of text data from various resources.
Putting it to the CU Test
So, we at CUToday.info joined in by challenging Chat GPT and putting it to the test ourselves with some serious questions about credit unions, such as how they differ from banks and why someone should join a CU; some informal questions members might ask, such as the best ways to achieve financial wellness; and some oddball challenges, such as asking it to explain the differences between credit unions and banks written as a Shakespearean sonnet. And while you’re at it, we added, give us a haiku about credit unions, too. And it did.
For those nuts and bolts basic inquiries about how the for-profit and not-for-profit FIs differ, Chat GPT passed with ease (it provides responses almost instantly) and its answers could be posted on any CU’s website right now.
Rookie Mistakes
It does make some rookie mistakes. In the fake column I asked Chat GPT to write above, for instance, it referred to credit union members as customers. I regret to say I often see this core differentiation misstated in the writings from credit unions, too, that I assume are still being written by humans. The saddest part is Chat GPT actually earns from its mistakes; I’m not so confident the current CU copywriters will do the same.
The chatbot is also “creative.” It wasted no time when challenged to tell a story about credit unions and banks as written as a Harlequin romance, for example. “As the night fell, the two institutions remained locked in a battle for the hearts and wallets of the townspeople,” the romance novel titled “Drive-Thru of Desire” by CUToday.info reads in part.
There are some other shortcomings, most especially in the humor department. The “joke” it was asked to write about credit unions must only be funny when chatbots are hanging out with each other and, well, chatting. Although to be fair, credit union humor is a pretty narrow niche.
Taking a Risk Here, But…
It’s customary with each new year for prognosticators and journalists, bloggers and other assorted soothsayers to offer a forecast for what the next 12 months will hold. And every year it seems someone is citing some breakthrough that will “change everything,” even though in nearly every case it changes nothing and is the subject of a “whatever happened to?” article at year-end. At best, it drives some small, incremental change.
At risk of also ending up on the Official 2023 Year-End Scrapheap of Putrid Predictions, it’s hard not to see AI-powered chatbots such as Chat GPT not being one of those change-everything tipping points. I’ve already seen several other chatbots do their things during various CU fintech pitch sessions, and the technology is only getting better.
As CUToday.info reports, for businesses of every kind, including credit unions, the implications are infinite and significant, and could lead to changes that are especially impactful on marketing, including how messages are written, promotions created, website content updated, tweets tweeted, and more. But the potential for change is even broader, affecting how CUs communicate with members and whether so much human call center and branch support is required. Indeed, as one person opines here, it isn’t digital banking but AI-powered chat solutions that are the biggest threat to branches.
Should Humans Be Afraid?
Since the Luddites, human beings have feared new technologies, and tech such as Chat GPT will certainly conjure similar alarm from the modern-day loom operators scared over their jobs and their futures.
So, I asked Chat GPT, “Should humans fear chatbots?”
Its response: “There is no reason for humans to fear chatbots. Chatbots are simply computer programs that are designed to assist and communicate with humans. While they may be able to perform some tasks more efficiently than humans, they do not have the same capabilities as humans and do not have the ability to think or feel in the same way.
“In general, chatbots can be a useful tool for improving communication and providing assistance to humans…Of course, as with any technology, it is important to use chatbots responsibly and to be aware of their limitations. Chatbots should not be used to replace human interaction or to make decisions that have significant consequences for people. However, as long as they are used appropriately, chatbots can be a valuable resource for humans.”
We’ve all seen the twisted examples of people who have actually had to train their own replacements at their jobs. They may not realize it, but all those branch employees and call center agents are doing exactly that. Artificial intelligence “learns” from the human intelligence that’s being shared in all prior conversations with members and responses to their questions. And as human as they may seem, chatbots don’t take vacations, call in sick or ask for raises, which CUs may say isn’t a factor in the people helping people biz, but I’ve yet to see a credit union press release about a merger that didn’t mention “efficiencies.”
More Human Than We Think
“Chatbots should not be used to replace human interaction…” Chat GPT said in response to my question, above. That sounds an awful lot like what many a corporation has said right before it starts distributing the pink slips.
It appears the chat technology is getting even more human than we think. I wonder what haiku it would write about that?
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of several new book, including the brand new “The Last Lyric,” a humorous satire about a murder investigation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in which every line of dialogue is either a classic pop/rock song title or lyric. Available on Amazon, Apple iBook, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Mr. Diekmann is also author of a non-fiction compilation of the very best & worst he has seen and heard in covering more than 500 CU meetings and conferences, “501 Name Tags: How Everything You Need to Know About Business Can Be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, and Smashwords