As Barclays becomes the latest bank to launch a robo-advisor offering, we look at how these AI-powered advice platforms are changing the field of wealth management and ask, “could robo-advisors replace human representatives?” 

AI is evolving at an incredible rate. Consumers are starting to encounter AI-powered products on a regular basis as we go about our increasingly digital lives, and yet the industry is still in its infancy, with lots of room to innovate. Hour One is one of the companies proving that AI can go further than we ever dreamed of. The New York-based start-up uses AI to generate digital characters based on real people which businesses can hire for educational, professional, and commercial use.

Artificial Intelligence is quickly becoming an integral part of banking technology. That should come as no surprise for an industry where extracting relevant information from a wealth of available data is especially important. But AI does much more than that and is being deployed for a variety of purposes, including analysis and fraud detection, trading, and customer service.

So you’re ready to dive into the exciting world of AI. However, in such a rapidly-evolving field it may be difficult to decide how to go about it. What’s the best way to create a robust and effective AI product? Should you develop a custom solution or buy one off the shelf? We gathered practical pros and cons for both options to help you decide.