For financial firms such as Morningstar, Carson Group, and Merrill that are launching AI assistants, a challenge to the tool’s success lies in the name: Does giving an AI chatbot a human name attract more human users or deter them?
So far, firms have taken different approaches. Bank of America’s “Erica” and Morningstar’s “Mo” are derived from the company name itself. Others, like Carson Group’s soon-to-launch “Steve” and Shaping Wealth’s in-development “Lydia” have far different strategic meanings, but still give a human identity. And then there are tools like Morgan Stanley’s new AI @ Morgan Stanley Debrief and Assistant, which purposely do not have human names because the firm wanted to ensure its AI was not seen as having full human capabilities.
“We opted not to use a human’s name, as artificial intelligence is not the same as human intelligence,” said Koren Picariello, head of generative AI strategy and execution at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. “When we launch new AI capabilities they will be branded under the AI @ Morgan Stanley name, but we will still reference each tool for what it does, like Assistant or Debrief.”
READ MORE: In AI we trust? The peril and potential of embracing AI in wealth
Why give an AI assistant a human identity?
Most AI assistants have human names, similar to the widely used “Alexa” by Amazon and Apple’s “Siri.” Proponents argue that it becomes easier for a human to relate to the AI if it has a human identity, and so they’re more likely to engage the tool.
“It humanizes the technology. We felt that people — clients and employees — would be more accepting of the technology if it had a name,” said James Rhodes, Morningstar’s chief technology officer and president of its data, research and enterprise solutions.
Morningstar launched “Mo” in May 2023. It can now answer more than 100,000 user questions, including product support-related questions like how to import a portfolio or create a client proposal within Morningstar.
“We also gave Mo a face to demonstrate that Mo can be another member of one’s team,” Rhodes said. “We wanted people to feel like Mo was a team member there to help them.”
Angel Gonzalez, chief marketing officer and co-founder at Snappy Kraken, said it was important to humanize the AI so it’s less intimidating and becomes more of a conversational tool. This is especially needed in the wealth management space, where AI adoption has been slower than other industries.
“We’re in an industry that relies on actual adoption. You could have the greatest tech in the world, but if people are too confused or afraid to use it, it’s as effective as something that isn’t used at all,” Gonzalez said.
READ MORE: AI for wealth client growth? Slowly but surely
Bank of America, which in 2018 launched Erica — derived from the last five letters of the bank’s name, now has more than 45 million Bank of America and Merrill clients who’ve interacted with Erica over 2.4 billion times, said Inez Louzonis, head of Merrill Wealth Management platforms and capabilities.
“The launch of Erica, the first widely available virtual financial assistant, laid the foundation for personalization at scale across Bank of America,” Louzonis said. “It offers a central gateway for search and help, within the BofA mobile app, providing clients with the shortest route to the answers they need.”
The strategy behind how firms name AI assistants
While AI assistants like Erica and Mo were pulled from the company’s name, there are other firms that took a different calculated approach.
Carson Group’s AI assistant Steve, which is expected to fully launch next year, was strategically chosen as a male name in order to break the stereotype that assistants are female.
“Too many assistants have a female name, like Siri and Alexa,” said Dani Fava, chief strategy officer at Carson Group. “The problem with this, we feel, is that it perpetuates a stereotype that women are more likely to be your assistant. To take notes, to retrieve information and fill those administrative duties.”
READ MORE: Carson Group’s Dani Fava on data strategy, AI bias and disconnecting from your desktop
Fava said Carson Group also named its AI Steve in homage to the firm’s director of training, Steve Synowiki, who built and wrote all the material that the AI Steve is trained on.
“Anytime someone at Carson has a question, it’s common to hear someone say, ‘Just ask Steve, he’ll know the answer,’” she said. “Now anyone can ‘ask Steve’ 24/7, while [human] Steve gets a good night’s sleep.”
The newly created AI assistant Lydia — developed by Alai Studios in partnership with Shaping Wealth, an advisor behavioral coaching and content platform — takes a different approach. Lydia incorporates behavioral science to act as a “conversational agent” for advisors, helping them prepare for meetings, navigate difficult conversations and create tailored content.
Shaping Wealth’s founder Brian Portnoy said the name Lydia came from the first discovered coins in the Lydian empire that’s now Turkey.
“The very first coin ever discovered by humankind was the Lydian coin. And so I named our agent, or set of conversation agents, Lydia, as tribute to the human experience of money,” he said. “And Lydia as a guide to the guides.”
Lydia is still in the demo stage, being beta tested internally and by a group of external financial advisors, but Portnoy said he expects it to formally launch in the coming months.
