American Express (Amex) is wading into the world of artificial intelligence (AI), but it’s doing so with the same hesitance one might show when approaching a particularly ornery cat. According to the latest updates, Amex plans to utilize AI to validate transactions and get a sense of customer sentiment. However, before you start picturing a chatbot lounging in the executive suite, let’s dive deeper into what they’ve got brewing.

The Giant That Decided Against Its Own Cloud

In an enlightening report by VentureBeat, Luke Gebb, the senior vice president of American Express Digital Labs, revealed that the company has no plans of cooking up its own large language model (LLM) to rival the titans like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Bard. Instead, Gebb noted:

“Our hypothesis at the moment is that we would be better suited using LLMs through partnerships. I don’t see us spinning up our own LLM from scratch.”

This sounds like the prudent approach, especially when one considers the considerable resources needed to launch a model from the ground up. It’s like wanting to cook a gourmet dinner but deciding to order takeout instead—you get the result without the hassle!

A Not-So-Secret Alliance with Microsoft

While Amex hasn’t spilled the beans on specific partners just yet, their previous rendezvous with Microsoft to create cloud-based AI tech is hard to overlook. Microsoft, which invested a whopping $1 billion into OpenAI back in 2019, certainly has a finger in the generative AI pie. So, there’s hope yet that Amex will sprinkle some of that AI magic onto its operations.

The AI Wish List: What’s Cooking at Amex?

Gebb laid out a wishlist for what Amex envisions for its future:

• Speedy Transaction Approvals: AI could help speed up transaction approvals, making it as quick as a caffeine-fueled squirrel.
• Sentiment Analysis: Amex aims to use LLMs to sift through customer feedback and pull out actionable insights, turning what could be a chaotic mess into a neat little database of preferences.

Sounds great, right? However, it’s clear they prefer to approach AI as one would tentatively step onto a rollercoaster—thrilling but risky.

Walking a Fine Line in Fintech

Unlike competitors MasterCard and Visa, who are all about cryptocurrency payments and innovation, Amex appears to be playing a different game—a slow and steady one. While they dabble in the crypto space with a rewards card, they haven’t jumped into the fray for cryptocurrency payments themselves. It’s like they’re standing at the edge of the pool, splashing a little water but not wanting to fully dive in.

Setting the Record Straight

In an official statement on May 30, Amex clarified an important point:

“Amex is not leveraging generative AI to approve transactions or determine who becomes an Amex Card Member, and this is not a use case the company is considering.”

So, let’s not go trying to get a job via a glitchy AI program just yet!