A very timely and helpful application of AI we call the Intelligent Tax Assistant.

It’s no secret that Web 3.0 is here, with an alphabet soup of acronyms… AI, ML, IoT, CeFI, GPT etc. Indeed, machines increasingly act like people, responding to spoken commands, answering questions, recognizing our faces and recommending what we should watch next. All the time, technology is making our lives easier and removing friction, in ways we may not fully recognize or appreciate.

While the debate continues around what this kind of innovation will mean in the long-term, I believe we can use the disruptive power of new technology for good to advance H&R Block’s Purpose to provide help and inspire confidence in our clients and communities everywhere.

As another tangible step in our digital transformation, I'm so excited that today, we’re introducing a new, industry-first AI technology that finds Americans tax refunds missed when they used TurboTax last year. Customers who used TurboTax last year and switch to H&R Block’s Online DIY product this year, simply upload last year’s TurboTax return and AI-powered technology automatically searches it for additional refunds.

If additional refunds are uncovered, we flag it for review by a tax pro and the customer is notified. Customers only pay if they choose to file an amended return to claim the additional refund amount. Using machine learning models trained with millions of tax returns, it’s as if we brought the power of 60,000 tax pros to help every customer get every dollar they deserve. The initial models uncovered millions of dollars in additional refunds.

The launch of this new AI capability is just one more way H&R Block is transforming—using digital and data capabilities to make tax filing faster, easier, and more transparent. We’re combining the best features of technology with the power of Block’s human advantage—amplifying the power of both. As we say here at Block, this is just one way we are #BetterTogether.

I'm incredibly proud of the Block teams that brought this capability to life this year...it is especially timely given the macro economic backdrop, and the fact that when it comes to refunds, every dollar matters more than ever. A huge shout out to the data science, global consumer tax and marketing & experience teams!