Swedish bank SEB describes IT worker Aida as a "permanent employee" helping it to deliver a "world-class service". So far, so typical for banker-speak. Except Aida is not a person – Aida is a virtual SEB representative, and the bank's latest foray into artificial intelligence.

Since 2015 this "AI agent", as the bank terms it, has been used as a "digital employee" on the bank’s in-house IT service desk, and is now being trained to support customers over the phone and online.