Mizuho Bank said that it will use the AI tool in the bank’s brokerage unit. The Japanese banking giant will conduct an “ideathon” next month and brainstorm various ways to experiment with the technology.
On Tuesday, June 27, Japan’s third-largest banking institution Mizuho declared that it will allow all of its 45,000 employees in Japan to use Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI from this week.
This will make the Mizuho Group the first financial company in Japan to use generative AI. Niu Dujungang, head of the company’s digitalization, said that access to Azure OpenAI services will be first available to the loan business department.
He also added that several employees already have hands-on experience using OpenAI’s ChatGPT application in their daily lives. Additionally, employees at Mizuho Bank have been quite optimistic about the application and believe that it would bring disruptive innovation.
One of the proposed uses of the AI tool will be to serve as a “one-stop reference point for the bank’s vast trove of internal rules, processes, and other manuals”.
The current stand undertaken by Mizuho Bank is quite a contrast to what banks in North America have been doing. Several banks in America have been seeking to impose restrictions on the use of AI tools. Mizuho Bank stated that they are aware of the risks of using AI, however, they believe that the guidelines will help mitigate these potential issues.
According to Bloomberg, Wall Street banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo, are imposing restrictions on the use of ChatGPT. This move is aimed at proactively safeguarding against any potential unintended effects. However, Mizuho, a bank in Japan, is embracing OpenAI’s tool, although Japan’s privacy watchdog has issued a warning regarding its use.
Mizuho Bank to Make Employees Aware of AI
Niu Dujungang stated that the bank will hold an idea marathon in the next month of July in order to encourage employees to try the new technology. Currently, Mizuho Bank is using generative AI in order to provide references and suggestions for employees to review complex internal rules, procedures and more.
Toshitake Ushiwatari, general manager of Mizuho Bank’s digital planning department, said:
“It’s like poking a beehive. They think it will completely re-set the world, triggering disruptive innovation.”
He acknowledged the potential risks associated with generative AI and mentioned that the bank will provide guidelines to employees regarding information management, intellectual property, and ethics when implementing this technology. However, Ushiwatari emphasized that despite the risks, generative AI has the power to benefit society, and the bank cannot ignore its potential. He stated, “This is a necessary step for us; otherwise, we will fall behind.”
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