Stanford University's "One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence" report from 2016 is close to the truth. The study's expert panel expects to see AI integrated into industries like elder care, education and public safety by 2030. "The field of AI is shifting toward building intelligent systems that can collaborate effectively with people." Tech companies are, of course, trendsetters when it comes to new technologies, and AI is no different. In fact, Google has been using AI through an algorithm it calls RankBrain, a machine-learning way to sort through all those Google Search results.

The fintech sector is looking at Artificial Intelligence with increasing interest. Indeed, Financial Technology has been growing exponentially: there are about 4,000 startups in the space (a conservative estimate, actually) and fintech's value has grown from $930 million in 2008 to $12 billion in 2014. Furthermore, proof of that AI has started integrating with finance and e-banking systems has come from a piece of news which has been missed by the general public. I'm talking about a statement released by Kasisto concerning the release of chatbots dedicated to stock investments and which can be integrated with common digital tools. Kasisto is an American startup, established as a spin-off of SRI International, the research Institute founded by the Stanford University which created Siri, the digital assistant used by Apple.

Not too long ago, online banking and live chat with a bank or credit card representative felt cutting-edge. Now, financial institutions are upping the ante by launching chatbots to interact with customers. Powered by artificial intelligence, these chatbots can quickly answer questions about balances, recent transactions or other queries. In addition to financial chatbots, bots used in other industries serve all kinds of purposes from helping you order a pizza to answering questions on the U.S. immigration website. Banks and credit card issuers hope that bots will help answer consumers' questions in the online environments where they already are -- without having to log in to a website or app each time they want to view recent transactions or check their balance.

Picture a virtual assistant that helps find directions, schedules appointments or plays music, and the soothing yet robotic sound of a female voice likely comes to mind. From Apple's Siri to Amazon's Alexa, a majority of the world's most popular virtual assistants have female personas. But that's starting to change as a growing number of consumers -- and companies -- turn to digital assistants. Some developers are going against the grain, creating chatbots and messaging apps that no longer conform to one gender and challenging a tradition of female digital assistants that some say display submissive personalities. Making virtual assistants female by default can be bad for business and perpetuate stereotypes, these chatbot developers say, so they're offering more options to consumers.

Do you have an iPhone? Tell Siri that you want to buy Apple. Trying that in a suburban Long Island, N.Y., town recently resulted in Siri asking if the user wanted to go to the Apple Store at a nearby mall. Then, Siri suggested, the closest branch of Apple Bank for Savings? Then the virtual assistant suggests a nearby floor covering company named for the fruit.

As described in our earlier blog on "Here's all that you need to know about Chatbots", ChatBots are software programs that are present in our messaging apps to perform different tasks. How about having a Bot that tracks our daily expenses and prevents unnecessary spending? Fintech companies have already started their path towards this trend. As Bots can be programmed for virtually anything, it would be possible for financial service organizations to build a financial advisor, broker, investment manager and virtually any other bot. Chatbots/ Virtual Assistants are going to change the way we live radically.

I just asked a bot to tell me how much I spent on coffee this past month. And a few moments later, it replied. Certainly, I drink an awful lot of coffee. After asking the bot for a bit more information, I can happily say I spent at least some of that nearly two hundred dollars on chopped fruit and the occasional pastry. The bot didn't actually explain this, but it did give me list all payments to coffee shops, which made things clear.

Not everyone can afford a personal wealth manager, but thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence technology, you might never need one. MyKai, a new service launched on Tuesday, is a so-called bot that promises to help you manage your banking and financial needs all via text messaging. Need to see your checking account balance? Just send a text to MyKai. Want to pay your buddy for that drink he got you?