Bank of America unveils an AI-powered bot to help customers with their personal finances

Bank of America debuted a virtual assistant bot today at Money2020, a fintech conference being held this week in Las Vegas. Named Erica, the bot uses artificial intelligence and predictive analytics to learn your personal spending habits and offer helpful advice. The bot will be available by voice command or plain text in Bank of America smartphone apps next year, according to CNBC. Erica is designed to be not just a virtual assistant but each customer's "personal advocate," said Bank of America head of digital banking Michelle Moore. It can tell you about your spending habits, notice if you spend more than usual on a certain product or category of products, present opportunities to reduce debt or save money, and alert you if your credit score dips.