Can AI provide reliable financial advice?

Conducted by London-based communications agency AML Group and research and planning firm The Nursery, the Investor Index canvassed 1,100 UK adults with a minimum of £10,000 ($19,000) invested.

Not only did the survey find that 73 per cent of UK investors believe that ChatGPT could give reliable financial advice in the future, 42 per cent of investors aged 18–34 stated they have already used the AI chatbot for advice.

While the younger demographic is more bullish on the possibilities that ChatGPT and AI can bring, the research has also found that just over half (54 per cent) of UK investors aged 65 and older also believe that ChatGPT could be the future of financial advice.

Robo-advisers are also being used by UK investors to make financial decisions with 46 per cent stating that they are the future of investing, while 34 per cent said they would prefer to use a robo-adviser than a human financial adviser.

Sarah Nunneley, senior strategist at AML Group, said: “While ChatGPT is currently not regulated, its perceived promise as a source of advice in the future across age groups is remarkable.

“This is most significant among younger investors — but you would be amiss to dismiss this group as ‘just kids’, this can be people in their late 30s and 40s, with money to invest and confidence in their choices.

“The ‘new’ generation of investor is already here, and they are looking at what is on offer, weighing up their options and it seems robo-advice and AI are coming up on top.”

Adele Martin, founder of My Money Buddy and The Savings Squad podcast, told ifa that while it is certainly possible, ChatGPT is currently much less reliable.

“In the future 100 [per cent] it could,” Ms Martin said.

“The problem is at present, it only goes back until September 2021, so people using it now could get massively out of date information.

“In the future, I see it being like an online avatar that chats and asks you questions. Like the Snapchat AI. It will feel like you are talking to someone.”

Neilson & Co Wealth Management founder and director Ben Neilson previously told ifa that advisers shouldn’t be worried about AI replacing them, adding it will free them up to do the important work.

“A lot of the feedback that we got was suggesting that advisers thought it would replace them. But there’s actually a subsection in the Corporations Act, which is 921Y, which basically says that you have to be a registered provider and ChatGPT is unregistered,” Mr Neilson said.

“We’re doing the parts that the clients value, we’re doing it cost effectively and the net result is significantly better, but it takes us less time. This is a recurring theme through all of my research. This is how the thesis addresses barriers to accessing financial advice. We do the parts that matter, and we outsource the parts that don’t.

“Historically, advisers have just done everything and then wondered why no one wants to pay them $20,000 or $6,000 for it because there’s no value there.”