Banking and financial services leaders see great opportunity to improve the bottom line thanks to artificial intelligence, particularly in the areas of process automation and fraud detection, according to a recent article for Forbes by AI developer Dmitry Matskevich. A July report from Capgemini's Digital Transformation Institute predicts the financial sector could add $512 billion to their global revenues by 2020, and increase costs savings by 10 to 25 percent, thanks to intelligent automation. "In 2017, financial firms quietly introduced a range of practical machines that think. Some banks added AI surveillance tools to thwart financial crime, while others deployed machine learning for tax planning," PwC reports. "Wealth managers can now offer automated investing advice across multiple channels, and many insurers now use automated underwriting tools in their daily decision-making."

On a surface level, community banking and artificial intelligence (AI) can seem like something of a mismatch in concept. Community banking is all about relationship-lending -- forging personal and lasting connections directly with a consumer, while AI -- particularly embodied by chatbots and voice assistants -- focuses primarily on digitally mediating that personal relationship. Tina Giorgio, president and CEO at ICBA Bancard, says that surface perspective misses the bigger AI picture and the scope of what AI can offer to community bankers and their customers across the country. According to Giorgio, AI is a "tremendous opportunity" for community banking. In fact, she says that it could be a game changer for community banks over the next five years. "There is tremendous potential with the advent of AI to help level the playing field in the financial services space," she said.

If you're a man who's tried (or considered trying) online dating, chances are you've worried you might meet a woman looking to use you for a free expensive dinner. It seems trivial in comparison to what women have to worry about when they filter through men on dating sites, but it's still a concern, and it still happens to the best of us. My online dating profile doesn't mention my dad's accomplishments, but in moments of insecurity, I've been known to name-drop in order to keep the woman interested. It's never gone well, and it's never attracted the right women. The women who see me as "Giorgio the teacher" or "Giorgio the writer" have never tried to use me for a free dinner.