Morgan Stanley is making a big change on Wall Street. They’re introducing a new computer assistant AI @ Morgan Stanley powered by OpenAI. It will be available for all their financial advisors and support staff starting Monday, as per a memo obtained by CNBC.
In March, Morgan Stanley, the leading investment bank and wealth management giant, made headlines by revealing its development of an OpenAI GPT-4-based assistant.
AI @ Morgan Stanley: Transforming Client Service with GPT-4
In the memo, Morgan Stanley co-president Andy Saperstein emphasized that financial advisors remain at the core of wealth management. Saperstein stated that generative AI-based AI @ Morgan Stanley would transform client interactions and enhance advisor efficiency.
The memo underscores the belief that AI @ Morgan Stanley will usher in a new era of client service.
Competitors such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase have also unveiled projects utilizing generative AI technology. However, Morgan Stanley’s distinctive achievement lies in being the first major Wall Street firm to deploy a tailored GPT-4 solution to its employees.
Efficient Access to Vast Research Resources
Jeff McMillan, the head of analytics, data, and innovation at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, affirmed this groundbreaking move.
In a recent interview, McMillan explained that the AI @ Morgan Stanley Assistant system provides financial advisors with rapid access to the bank’s extensive repository of approximately 100,000 research reports and documents.
The assistant’s efficiency in addressing market inquiries, offering recommendations, and handling internal procedures saves time for advisors and customer service staff.
McMillan noted that although AI @ Morgan Stanley appears as a straightforward text interface, ensuring its ability to generate quality responses posed a significant challenge. He explained that the bank invested months in curating documents and enlisting human experts to assess and refine the program’s responses.
McMillan mentioned that advisors will need to formulate questions in complete sentences for AI @ Morgan Stanley. Resembling human conversation is required, rather than relying on keywords as they would with a search engine.
“You communicate with this machine just like you would ask me a question,” he explained, noting the similarity.
The Bank’s AI Evolution: From Coding to Learning
McMillan revealed that this marks the initial installment in a sequence of generative AI-based solutions in the bank’s pipeline. The bank is currently testing a tool called Debrief, designed to autonomously condense client meeting content and create subsequent email correspondence.
He explained that employing AI @ Morgan Stanley assistant software demanded a fundamentally distinct approach compared to prior technology initiatives. The software is based on OpenAI, which gives it technological advantages. OpenAI’s ChatGPT utilizes large language models (LLMs) to craft responses that sound like those from humans.
McMillan noted that the conventional approach involved coding. However, the new method entails providing examples for the system to learn. In the new paradigm, the system acquires the ability to “reason” and employ human-like logic based on given examples.
AI’s Buzz in the Stock Market
AI’s buzz has driven stock market enthusiasm in the current year and compelled entire sectors to grapple with its consequences. Some experts have proclaimed it as the upcoming bedrock technology.
McMillan expressed astonishment, noting that he had never witnessed anything comparable in his two decades of AI experience. He emphasized the organization’s recognition of a disruptive opportunity and its determination not to be left behind.
At the time of announcements in March, Morgan Stanley had been diligently testing the artificial intelligence tool with around 300 financial advisors. Fast forward to today, the bank is going for a widespread rollout of this tool.
The primary goal of this innovative tool, which has been under development for the past year as of 2023, is to assist the bank’s extensive network of approximately 16,000 advisors. It does so by providing them with enhanced access to the bank’s extensive wealth of research and data resources. This development reflects the ongoing commitment of financial institutions to harness the power of AI and data to better serve their clients and advisors.