AI Chatbots Give 40% of Americans Flawed Finance Advice in Nuanced Cases

3 articles · Updated · Entrepreneur · Aug 13

40% of 4,000 Americans surveyed by JD Power said they used AI to manage money in the past three months, even as experts warned the tools can mislead on consequential decisions.
Nuanced questions are the main weak spot: advisers told NPR chatbots often work for basic tasks or highly detailed prompts, but can confidently hallucinate facts or miss crucial personal circumstances in the middle ground.
Danielle Harrison, a Missouri financial planner, said an AI model first insisted her firm should be an S corporation, then reversed itself to recommend an LLC after she added details.
More than one-third of users said AI improved their financial decisions—about on par with bank advice—and some, like Ohio IT manager David Kendrick, now use ChatGPT routinely alongside annual meetings with a human adviser.
Advisers still see longer-term potential, saying better models could widen access to financial guidance for people who cannot afford or easily find a human planner.