NASSAU, The Bahamas (CMC) — A Bahamian financial services provider on Tuesday unveiled what it described as the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) powered humanoid loan officer, Evelyn Phylistina (Evie) and says more are on the way.

Robert Pantry, founder and chief executive of the Simplified Group of Companies, said Evie will make the client experience more efficient and easier, and the humanoid robots will become available through the group’s technology branch, Simplified Tech.

He added that it has been integrating AI into its business for the past two years.

“Simplified Lending has made significant strides in AI automation, leading to new opportunities as a group and the creation of Simplified Tech. Simplified Tech will be dedicated to providing humanoid robots and AI solutions for businesses and individual consumers, both in The Bahamas and internationally,” Pantry said.

“We believe Evie is just the beginning of what’s possible. While still in beta testing, she represents the future of financial services and the future of business in general. We believe that AI-driven humanoid robots will impact every industry as the technology advances.”

He said Evie will assist clients with loan applications, inquiries and document processing, allowing Simplified’s human agents to have faster turnaround times and focus on developing more meaningful client relationships.

“She’s being developed to assist with loan applications, making the process faster and seamless. Document processing, automating tasks that traditionally require manual effort, client engagement, enhancing the customer experience with AI interactions.”

“As technology advances, we envision Evie expanding our capabilities to support insurance obligations to our partnership with affiliate insurance, legal sales, financial education and advisory services. Our goal is not to replace human jobs, that’s important to note, but enhance productivity and efficiency, allowing our team to focus on more creative tasks and other higher value tasks in customer relationship, financial advisory and innovation.”

According to Pantry, humanoid robots can help solve many issues in the financial services industry as they can expand operational hours, lower operations costs and work remotely in convenient locations.

“One of the reasons, when you look at the challenges with operating branches, is the cost of operating those branches. With the robots, we believe that you may not need as much folks working in the branch, because they will be complemented with humanoid robots.”

Although Evie is still “several months” away from deployment at a Simplified Lending branch, Pantry said his team has been training to work with AI for the past year and a half and has seen an increase in productivity and efficiency.

He added that although some may have fears about humanoid robots replacing human labour, Evie is not a replacement for his employees but a tool to help make their jobs easier.