How behavioral science, AI, and ML can help you achieve future financial prosperity

Managing finances, both personal and business, can be stressful for a variety of reasons. Household incomes are not keeping up with the growing cost of living. For many people the concept of “getting ahead” has become a growing challenge, and the odds aren’t even.

The good news is that massive advances in technology — combined with unrivaled data sets — can help remove the barriers to a better future of financial prosperity for all. Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, as well as platforms such as blockchain, are creating a fundamental paradigm shift that’s pushing fintech well beyond its current state. Here are three ways Intuit, the creator behind products like Mint and TurboTax, is experimenting with technologies that will reshape and influence how personal and business finances are managed.

Living paycheck to paycheck is a reality for the majority of Americans. A recent study found that over 75 percent of all US workers identified as living paycheck to paycheck. The median savings account balance for workers over age 35 is around $5,000, and it’s even less for younger workers. While many people set financial goals, strategizing a savings plan can be difficult, which can lead to uncertainty and risk, especially in emergency situations. Not to mention saving money isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach: Everyone’s goals and finances are unique.

Artificial Intelligence, which uses algorithms to learn behavior patterns, coupled with behavioral science principles can help people become more financially literate and savvy. Using a series of personality-based quizzes, AI can assess and profile consumers’ financial health beyond a bank statement alone, providing tailored recommendations to make better financial decisions and achieve realistic goals based on their specific spending behaviors and others like them. Enjoy your daily coffee run? This science can see your spending pattern and make recommendations to change your spending behaviors based on learnings from others.

Additionally, through behavioral science and personality analysis, fintech can deeply understand users and predict a “resilience score” to rate how a person’s personal finances would be affected by an unforeseen financial event, such as losing a job. Using that example, the score would let that consumer know how many days they could go without having a paycheck by assessing spending habits and understanding ongoing expenses. By using technology to understand common behaviors and personalities, Intuit and fintech products can provide recommendations without sacrificing spending behaviors too drastically. The other pro of applying behavioral sciences to fintech is that it keeps it personal to each consumer based on their goals — whether it’s getting a side hustle off the ground, splurging on new shoes, or saving for a new office desk. Deeply understanding these behaviors increases consumers’ confidence in their financial future.

Similar financial frustrations apply to small businesses and the self-employed. About half of all businesses fail within their first five years, and cash flow is a major factor. AI and ML can enable a future world where business owners can use products that offer forward-looking cash flow projections, allowing better business decisions to be made based on actual data. For example, many businesses are seasonal. Rather than having to make guesses about the future, business owners can rely on advanced technologies for personalized and accurate cash flow forecasts to not only stay afloat, but to thrive and prosper.

AI chatbots aren’t new; they’ve been in existence for years. Chatbots help humanize technology through elegant, modern programming and design capabilities. But can we make them more empathetic, or dare we say, more human?

Advanced chatbots will have the ability to react appropriately to a customer’s emotional state, especially around financial issues, increasing customer trust and confidence, relieving stress, and creating a deeper connection. Using tone analysis from text, natural language processing, understanding of conversations, and emotional speech synthesis, fintech can create virtual customer assistants that are capable of reading human emotions and reacting just as another human would. Instead of frustration, having a customer assistant that empathizes with the situation can calm nerves and help make wiser financial decisions. Human or not, imagine how satisfied you would feel after that kind of service.

Intuit innovates on behalf of consumers, the self-employed, and small businesses to improve their financial lives and ultimately help them pursue their own version of prosperity. While prosperity means different things to different people, new technology is changing how we help people get there. This means living the life you want with less work to manage your finances, more money in your pocket, and the confidence that your finances are handled. As we roll into 2019, a new technology-driven financial future is on the horizon.