Remember Aibo, the computerized dog Sony Corp. started selling in 1999 as the first personal robot? Hiro Mizuno, the chief investment officer of the Government Pension Investment Fund, does. So he asked Sony's computer science lab unit to build him a cyberhound using artificial intelligence to help oversee the external fund managers who manage GPIF's ¥175 trillion ($1.6 trillion) in assets.

If the training program succeeds, the software watchdog could catch investors who are straying from their comfort zones, help screen potential portfolio managers based on their previous track records, and even distinguish between luck and skill in generating returns. But there's a catch — and it's a big one that's not unique to this particular use of AI.

The project, which Mizuno says is part of his experiments in improving the way money is managed, will run through March, but the Sony team recently issued an interim report.