UBS deploys AI clones of analysts to meet demand for short-form TikTok-style investment video content

UBS said it will allow analysts to create short-form investment videos using AI-generated avatars to meet customer demands for TikTok-like content.

AI innovation often raises concerns that jobs in high-wage sectors that deal with complex analytical tasks, which large language models are becoming more capable of handling, will become obsolete.

UBS has begun deploying AI-generated videos of its analysis, although the company has not stated any intentions to replace its analysts with machines.

UBS analysts become avatars

UBS, one of the world’s largest and most influential financial institutions, has started using artificial intelligence to create digital replicas of its analysts.

These AI avatars—generated with the help of language models from OpenAI and video technology from Synthesia—deliver short-form video briefings to clients. These video briefings are similar to TikTok videos and offer financial insights to customers.

The Zurich-based bank began rolling out the avatar initiative in January. It expects the program to satisfy the growing client demand for video-based content and also improve internal efficiency by saving analysts from repetitive tasks.

“It’s not a parlor trick,” Scott Solomon, the head of global research technology at UBS’s investment bank, said in an interview with the Financial Times. “There are two drivers for it: the client driver and the efficiency driver. It is helping you scale your video capabilities in a way that clients are asking you for, and ultimately saving you time to do your research and meet with clients.”

Traditionally, UBS publishes around 50,000 research documents annually. However, due to its studio capacity and the manual effort required to film each piece, it has been limited to producing roughly 1,000 videos a year. With the use of AI avatars, the bank aims to raise that figure to 5,000 videos per year.

For the first step of creating their avatars, the analysts enter a studio where Synthesia captures their likeness, voice, and expressions. Later, when a new research report is ready, they can use AI language models to generate a corresponding script.

Analysts control this process, and they must approve both the script and the final video before it’s sent to clients. UBS emphasized that their participation is entirely voluntary and that its human resources team approved the opt-in program before it launched.

UBS responds to demand for TikTok-style content

UBS’s video briefings could signal a change in how financial information is shared and consumed. Video content in general has become more dominant across platforms and more popular with various demographics as attention spans continue to shrink. UBS is adapting to match the media habits of the modern investor.

“Think about how we, in our consumer lives, consume so much more video content now than we did five years ago,” Solomon said. “The number of views on our videos has gone up dramatically.”

While the avatars bear a close resemblance to their human counterparts, UBS made it clear that the avatars are not intended to mislead customers. Each video very clearly includes a disclosure stating that it was created using AI.

“It’s in no way trying to replace the flesh and blood analyst,” Solomon clarified.

In matching the media habits of the modern investor, UBS is facing the problem of voice replication across different accents. In some cases, the AI technology has struggled to maintain the unique vocal qualities of certain analysts, resulting in a “flattening” effect that Solomon admitted could diminish the individuality of the avatars.

The bank temporarily paused the launch for those affected while working on a solution.