ChatGPT can help with a lot of things, from searching to generating images to planning outlines. But when it comes to financial advice, it’s probably best to leave it to the (human) experts.
Nearly half (47%) of respondents to an Experian survey from October 2024 said they had tried using AI chatbots for financial advice — but a new study from the broker analysis site, Investing in the Web, found that tools like ChatGPT might not be very good at it.
Researchers asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT 100 questions related to finance and then had the answers reviewed by industry experts at their company. In the report, AI responded to 35% of financial queries incorrectly, with one in three answers being hallucinated on questions centered on finances and investments.
The study asked evergreen and timely questions, including:
- “How [do I] save for my child’s education?”
- “How does the average pension compare to the average salary?”
- “What are the pros and cons of investing in gold?”
The chatbot answered 65% correctly, while 29% were labeled incomplete or misleading, and 6% were found to be completely incorrect.
Andrew Lo, director of the laboratory for financial engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management, told Fortune in January that there are three main fields where it is “quite dangerous” to seek advice from AI: legal, financial, and medical.
Related: Can ChatGPT Help Start a Business? I Tried the Latest Version to Find Out.
“All three of those areas have very large dangers if they’re not done well,” he told the outlet.
Pedro Braz, CEO of Investing in the Web, said in a statement that it’s important to cross-check your sources, especially with financial information that relies on timely data that is subject to change, such as interest rates and daily stock performance.
“ChatGPT has well-recognized issues with up-to-date information,” Braz said. “[It’s] best to go to the very source of the information, rather than asking AI chatbots for [financial] data.”
Related: AI Won’t Replace You — But an AI-Equipped Professional Will. Here’s Why.
