The rise of AI chatbots in India’s banking sector | Data Premium

Rise of AI Chatbots in India’s Banking Sector: About 80% of banks have adopted chatbots capable of engaging in conversations with human users according to RBI.

The 2022-23 report on the trends in, and progress of, banking in India, which was released on Wednesday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), studies the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in banks and how it has grown over time. To assess the level of awareness and readiness for adopting AI in Indian banks, an analytical study was conducted on banks’ annual reports by the RBI staff between 2015-16 and 2021-22.

This study employed a textual analysis method by matching keywords specific to the domain and utilising named entity recognition techniques. It leveraged widely recognised AI and Machine Learning (ML) dictionaries and glossaries from sources such as Google Vertex AI, Google Developers, IBM, NHS AI Lab, and the Council of Europe. Additionally, insights from Large Language Models such as ChatGPT and Bard were integrated into the analysis.

Chart 1 | The chart shows a word cloud showing textual analysis of AI-related keywords in the bank’s annual report.

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The analysis using a word cloud indicates a significant emphasis by banks on automation (Chart 1). This trend likely stems from the goal of improving efficiency and enhancing capabilities in the detection of fraud and other forms of predictive analytics, the RBI study suggests. It is also notable that there is an awareness or potential for adopting emerging technologies such as Robotic Process Automation, the Internet of Things, and Natural Language Processing.

A key application of AI in various service sectors is the use of chatbots, which are capable of engaging in conversations with human users in natural languages, either via text or voice. 

Chart 2 | The chart shows the number of banks in India which adopted chatbots. in total, 33 scheduled commercial banks were analysed.