Connect with us

Technology

Leveling the Payments Tech Landscape for Small Businesses with GenAI

Published

on

Leveling the Payments Tech Landscape for Small Businesses with GenAI

Following its introduction, artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly prevalent in the financial services industry, assisting with millions of consumer requests annually and automating back-office tasks.

According to Tim Christensen, senior vice president of product, digital, innovation, and AI at Synchrony, “but many of those traditional AI and machine learning tools were largely constrained to the teams that understood them and knew how to implement them,” PYMNTS reported.

The most recent installment of the “What’s Next in Payments” series, which focuses on the development and prospects of artificial intelligence in banking, payments, and commerce, includes Christensen’s remarks.

According to Christensen, the relatively new technology known as generative AI has democratized artificial intelligence and made it accessible to banks and companies of all sizes and in all industries.

“Everyone understands how it can be used and can imagine different ways it can change their job and their products,” he said.

He stated that whenever it is used, generative AI has been crucial in bringing about essentially new capabilities like context awareness and prediction.

Using a Calculated Approach

Additionally, it incorporates “non-deterministic technology, for the first time, into these businesses,” according to him. This implies that ten distinct answers or ideas could result from posing the same question or working on the same topic. He claimed that because of generative AI’s versatility and wide variety of applications, designers and users must approach the creation and application of the models in different ways.

“You can’t just build an experience with AI, put it in front of a customer, and slap a disclaimer on it that says, ‘AI results may be inaccurate’ and think that’s good enough,” said Christensen. For companies such as Synchrony, a judicious approach to risk management and considering new use cases thoroughly is critical.

While many financial institutions already use chatbots, Christensen stated that “going even further… with cardholder data, customer data, or going deeper into a person’s financial products gets a lot riskier” when asked how the legal landscape could change in the future by PYMNTS.

Over time, regulatory frameworks will be built. Over the past few months, Synchrony’s internal AI governance team has been given even greater authority over the company’s AI initiatives.

In the interim, generative AI, according to him, can enhance back office coding and produce content that empowers agents in their customer interactions. This is all while upholding the significance of the “human in the loop,” which facilitates smoother operations as compliance, regulatory, innovative, and technological efforts come together.

Christensen stated, “If we can make thousands of engineers a bit more efficient, well, that has a great return on investment,” giving a nod to the size of Synchrony’s business.

Speaking to customers directly, Christensen stated that Synchrony has been experimenting with ways to use AI to enhance commerce and the ways in which customers look for, find, and check out the goods and services they require from the bank’s thousands of merchant partners.

“The shopping journey is constantly evolving as technology evolves,” Christensen said. Elsewhere, the company, with trillions of data points tied to its consumers on hand, “can experiment with and change the experiences in ways that are positive for the customers and are delightful from a commerce perspective.” Generative AI, he said, can help “connect the dots” and “fill in the blanks” as consumers shop.

Furthermore, Christensen predicted that “this technology will be transformative” in the coming months and years. It will alter the experiences of both consumers and employees because new technology rarely transforms our daily lives in such a profound way.

Technology

Microsoft Expands Copilot Voice and Think Deeper

Published

on

Microsoft Expands Copilot Voice and Think Deeper

Microsoft is taking a major step forward by offering unlimited access to Copilot Voice and Think Deeper, marking two years since the AI-powered Copilot was first integrated into Bing search. This update comes shortly after the tech giant revamped its Copilot Pro subscription and bundled advanced AI features into Microsoft 365.

What’s Changing?

Microsoft remains committed to its $20 per month Copilot Pro plan, ensuring that subscribers continue to enjoy premium benefits. According to the company, Copilot Pro users will receive:

  • Preferred access to the latest AI models during peak hours.
  • Early access to experimental AI features, with more updates expected soon.
  • Extended use of Copilot within popular Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The Impact on Users

This move signals Microsoft’s dedication to enhancing AI-driven productivity tools. By expanding access to Copilot’s powerful features, users can expect improved efficiency, smarter assistance, and seamless integration across Microsoft’s ecosystem.

As AI technology continues to evolve, Microsoft is positioning itself at the forefront of innovation, ensuring both casual users and professionals can leverage the best AI tools available.

Stay tuned for further updates as Microsoft rolls out more enhancements to its AI offerings.

Continue Reading

Technology

Google Launches Free AI Coding Tool for Individual Developers

Published

on

Google Launches Free AI Coding Tool for Individual Developers

Google has introduced a free version of Gemini Code Assistant, its AI-powered coding assistant, for solo developers worldwide. The tool, previously available only to enterprise users, is now in public preview, making advanced AI-assisted coding accessible to students, freelancers, hobbyists, and startups.

More Features, Fewer Limits

Unlike competing tools such as GitHub Copilot, which limits free users to 2,000 code completions per month, Google is offering up to 180,000 code completions—a significantly higher cap designed to accommodate even the most active developers.

“Now anyone can easily learn, generate code snippets, debug, and modify applications without switching between multiple windows,” said Ryan J. Salva, Google’s senior director of product management.

AI-Powered Coding Assistance

Gemini Code Assist for individuals is powered by Google’s Gemini 2.0 AI model and offers:
Auto-completion of code while typing
Generation of entire code blocks based on prompts
Debugging assistance via an interactive chatbot

The tool integrates with popular developer environments like Visual Studio Code, GitHub, and JetBrains, supporting a wide range of programming languages. Developers can use natural language prompts, such as:
Create an HTML form with fields for name, email, and message, plus a submit button.”

With support for 38 programming languages and a 128,000-token memory for processing complex prompts, Gemini Code Assist provides a robust AI-driven coding experience.

Enterprise Features Still Require a Subscription

While the free tier is generous, advanced features like productivity analytics, Google Cloud integrations, and custom AI tuning remain exclusive to paid Standard and Enterprise plans.

With this move, Google aims to compete more aggressively in the AI coding assistant market, offering developers a powerful and unrestricted alternative to existing tools.

Continue Reading

Technology

Elon Musk Unveils Grok-3: A Game-Changing AI Chatbot to Rival ChatGPT

Published

on

Elon Musk Unveils Grok-3: A Game-Changing AI Chatbot to Rival ChatGPT

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has unveiled its latest chatbot, Grok-3, which aims to compete with leading AI models such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and China’s DeepSeek. Grok-3 is now available to Premium+ subscribers on Musk’s social media platform x (formerly Twitter) and is also available through xAI’s mobile app and the new SuperGrok subscription tier on Grok.com.

Advanced capabilities and performance

Grok-3 has ten times the computing power of its predecessor, Grok-2. Initial tests show that Grok-3 outperforms models from OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek, particularly in areas such as math, science, and coding. The chatbot features advanced reasoning features capable of decomposing complex questions into manageable tasks. Users can interact with Grok-3 in two different ways: “Think,” which performs step-by-step reasoning, and “Big Brain,” which is designed for more difficult tasks.

Strategic Investments and Infrastructure

To support the development of Grok-3, xAI has made major investments in its supercomputer cluster, Colossus, which is currently the largest globally. This infrastructure underscores the company’s commitment to advancing AI technology and maintaining a competitive edge in the industry.

New Offerings and Future Plans

Along with Grok-3, xAI has also introduced a logic-based chatbot called DeepSearch, designed to enhance research, brainstorming, and data analysis tasks. This tool aims to provide users with more insightful and relevant information. Looking to the future, xAI plans to release Grok-2 as an open-source model, encouraging community participation and further development. Additionally, upcoming improvements for Grok-3 include a synthesized voice feature, which aims to improve user interaction and accessibility.

Market position and competition

The launch of Grok-3 positions xAI as a major competitor in the AI ​​chatbot market, directly challenging established models from OpenAI and emerging competitors such as DeepSeek. While Grok-3’s performance claims are yet to be independently verified, early indications suggest it could have a significant impact on the AI ​​landscape. xAI is actively seeking $10 billion in investment from major companies, demonstrating its strong belief in their technological advancements and market potential.

Continue Reading

Trending

error: Content is protected !!