Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will introduce conversational artificial intelligence software to support employees in daily business operations.

NHK has learned that the Japanese arm of Microsoft will help the megabank develop the AI tool.

The software, for example, will reference a database of financial information and create draft documents in response to requests from employees. These may include documents to be used by officials who evaluate loan applications from businesses.

It will also be programmed to give employees detailed answers when asked about in-house accounting procedures.

The officials say they will use a network not accessible from the outside, so the system will be secure. The bank plans to make it available first to workers in its information system department and then to the rest of its workforce around summer.

Sumitomo Mitsui's decision to embrace the AI chat tool comes amid the rise of similar software such as ChatGPT, while some experts warn that the adoption of AI tools could increase the risk of information leaks.