What Investors Really Think of AI-Generated Advice: Survey

What You Need to Know

Unverified financial advice on platforms like TikTok and Instagram has surged over the last decade.
The emergence of AI tools has made verifying advice challenging, making holistic advice more important, CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller says.
Generative AI could be a helpful tool for financial advisors as it matures, survey respondents said.

Seventy-one percent of investors in a survey released Tuesday by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards have virtually no trust in the financial planning advice they receive from social media, and 51% feel the same about advice they receive from generative artificial intelligence tools, including ChatGPT or Google’s Bard.

At the same time, 31% of investors surveyed said they feel comfortable implementing financial planning advice from a generative AI-powered tool without first verifying it with another source. Twenty-six percent said they would act on unverified advice from social media.

However, 52% of respondents said they would be more confident about acting on advice from generative AI after they have vetted that advice with a financial planner. And 46% said they would be comfortable implementing vetted financial planning advice from social media.

“Over the last decade, unverified financial advice on platforms like TikTok and Instagram has surged,” the CFP Board’s chief executive Kevin Keller said in a statement. “Investors must be cautious about advice from ‘finfluencers’ on these channels.”

Keller said that because the emergence of AI tools has made verifying advice challenging, holistic professional advice is more important than ever.

The CFP Board conducted the survey on July 11 among a sample of 1,153 adults.

Generational Differences in Satisfaction

Younger investors appear to be more wary than older ones about the financial advice they receive from generative AI. Sixty-two percent of investors 45 and older said they were “very satisfied” with the experience of receiving financial planning advice from a generative AI tool, compared with 38% of investors younger than 45.

But the survey found that investors of all ages are cautious when it comes to implementing that advice. Only 8% of those younger than 45 said they would be very comfortable acting on advice solely from a generative AI tool; 15% of older investors concurred.

Long-Term Impact of New Technologies

Thirty-one percent of men in the survey described themselves as hopeful about the effect AI could have on financial planning, compared with 19% of women. Thirty-seven percent of women described themselves as skeptical, versus 29% of men.

However, both male and female respondents said they felt more comfortable with the financial advice they received from generative AI than from other new sources and agreed that verification with an advisor is key.

Fifty-seven percent of men and 47% of women said they would be at least somewhat comfortable implementing financial advice from a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT or Bard if verified by an advisor.

Both men and women also believe that generative AI — as it develops and matures — could be a helpful tool for financial advisors, with 52% of respondents believing that generative AI tools and social media will supplement financial planning advice from advisors in the next three to five years.

“Social media and generative AI have promise as tools for sharing information, but they can never be a substitute for the expertise and client knowledge of a financial planner,” Keller said.