We had many distinguished, accomplished, fascinating speakers at Boston Fintech Week in September, but perhaps none attracted as much attention as Alexander Hamilton.
What’s that, you say?
One of our most popular participants was Alexander Hamilton, the “ten dollar founding father,” the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, and a leading proponent of a central banking system for the United States.
Through a collaboration between the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT®) and the Museum of American Finance (MoAF), attendees of Boston Fintech Week had the opportunity to engage in conversation with Alexander Hamilton and ask him questions about U.S. financial history, his life, current events, and fintech.
A conversation between Sarah Biller, Co-Founder of Fintech Sandbox, and an intelligent avatar of Alexander Hamilton during Boston Fintech Week.
This intelligent avatar of Hamilton is powered by generative AI. It’s much more than just a visual representation – it’s a subject matter expert capable of engaging in bi-directional conversation about U.S. financial history and current events. It demonstrates how AI can be used to create immersive and informative experiences.
AI Hamilton will be a permanent part at the Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, when it opens in Boston’s Seaport District in 2026. The museum’s mission is to illuminate U.S. financial history and to make financial education accessible to all. The museum will also make space available for use by the community for public program.
David Cowen is the CEO & President of MoAF.
Q. David, what kind of reaction did attendees have to Alexander Hamilton during Boston Fintech Week?
A. Fintech Week attendees were amazed by their interactions with AI Alexander Hamilton. They asked him questions on a wide variety of topics related to finance, economics and history, and he provided thoughtful responses to each question. He even gave some insightful opinions on current topics, such as tariffs and taxes, and he replied in whatever language the question was asked. The most surprising moment came when an attendee asked him a question in Swahili, and he answered the question appropriately with perfect diction!
Q. What can you tell us about your collaboration with FCAT?
A. Our Museum has a strong relationship with the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT) and a shared vision for moving forward. Our collective goal is nothing short of reimagining the field of financial literacy, given the incredible progress of technology and AI learning in the past few years. We are currently working with FCAT and their vendors to provide an incredible interactive visitor experience at our new exhibit headquarters on Commonwealth Pier in the Boston Seaport, where we will reach visitors in innovative ways on the topic of personal finance.
Q. How was this intelligent avatar trained?
A. The Alexander Hamilton avatar was trained through a proprietary model using a Large Language Model (LLM).
Q. Why has the Museum of American Finance chosen to relocate to Boston?
A. Our Museum had been looking for a new exhibit headquarters for the past few years, and we were very excited to learn about the opportunity available on the newly developed Commonwealth Pier. This location is an excellent fit for our Museum, as Boston and Massachusetts were the leading center of American financial innovation for two centuries, from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s. Our plan is to build on that tradition at the Boston Seaport.
Q. How will MoAF help visitors with the own financial lives?
A. We have a 36-year track record of creating engaging, state-of-the-art exhibits, and we are dedicated to educating the public on finance and financial history through our financial literacy programs and public events. Our mission is to improve understanding of the influence of financial institutions and capital markets on the US and global economies, and on individuals’ lives. An affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, we seek to empower individuals of all backgrounds to strive toward financial independence, while encouraging curiosity and discovery.
In Boston, all of our exhibits and programming will be offered free of charge— eliminating barriers to enter and learn. This includes a high-tech, interactive Personal Finance gallery, where visitors will explore topics such as budgeting, spending, saving and compounding. This will equip visitors with the tools and strategies to achieve and maintain healthy financial lives.
Q. What can people learn from an exhibition of paper currency?
A. We know that finance can be intimidating, so the topic of our first exhibit gallery will be something everyone knows well—money. Most Americans don’t realize that for a good part of our history, banks issued the currency, or that it was backed by gold and silver. These historical notes are often beautiful in design, and we let them speak for themselves as artwork. Multiple in-depth touch screens will allow visitors to interact with the notes and learn more about them. We will also display high denomination notes—like the $500 and $1,000 bills—which are no longer in circulation.
Q. Which historical financial documents are in the MoAF collection? You brought one very interesting and important document to Boston Fintech Week.
A. As part of our mission to preserve the history of finance in the United States, we actively collect important documents and artifacts related to the capital markets, money, banking and free enterprise. Our archive houses thousands of documents, currencies, photographs, periodicals and certificates, including the nation’s premier collection of 18th century US financial documents. We also collect artifacts relating to the financial markets—ranging from vintage stock tickers to Wall Street memorabilia.
The document you mention from Fintech Week was George Washington’s Treasury bonds, and there is a direct line from those bonds to today’s national debt!
Q. The United States will celebrate its 250th birthday in 2026. What does the Museum have planned?
A. We are planning to open in Boston in time for the nation’s 250th birthday celebration and the Tall Ships coming into Boston Harbor. One of our featured exhibits will be “A Financial Revolution,” on the origins of the financial markets, which were conceived and created by Alexander Hamilton and his contemporaries around the time of the nation’s founding. Plans are currently in development for our opening events. Information on the Boston project is available at www.moaf.org/Boston and will be updated as we get closer to the opening.
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