Archived article: Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
AI is becoming a staple in many of our routines, whether it's creating an itinerary for a weekend away or concocting a recipe from leftovers in the fridge. And now, according to a survey run by AJ Bell through Opinium, about a third of people have used AI to help make financial decisions or get financial information.
The stakes are a lot higher when you’re deciding what to do with your money than what to have for dinner. Even though a third of people said they’d used AI when it came to their finances, 36% of respondents said they’d want to verify the information through other sources, and 44% said they wouldn’t trust it.
So, what kind of information is AI able to give you on your finances, and what do you need to watch out for? To get a better idea, we asked a few different AI tools some basic finance questions, such as what to do with an extra £150 a month or how much to contribute to a pension, to see where they were able to help, and where they came up short.
Where AI may be able to help
AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini provided a strong starting point for investing. They mentioned the things you’d want to sort out first, like any debt or an emergency fund, and suggested tax-efficient products like a Stocks and shares ISA. The AI tools even illustrated how your money could grow over time, and the average yearly growth you might expect for a global index fund.
The AI tools were able to provide information about different investment platforms and give an idea of what is reasonable to pay in terms of fees. This is all great information for a beginner investor and covers many of the steps to get started. However, where users may need to exercise caution is in the details.
Comparing apples to oranges
One area where issues arose with AI’s responses was asking for comparisons of different funds. In this example, I asked how active and passive funds performed over time. The response included a UK-focused active fund that was one of the top performers for the year compared with a global index fund. The UK-focused fund returned 27.7% versus 13.7% from the passive fund.
However, there were quite a few issues with this comparison that may not be apparent to someone just learning about investing.
Not only did AI compare two different sectors (global versus UK) which is not a fair comparison, but it also used a top-performing UK active fund rather than the sector average.
The sector average return for UK equity funds in the past year was 12.4%, less than half the return of the UK fund AI chose in the example (27.7%) and less than the return from the passive fund (13.7%).
Following the narrative given by the AI tool would likely lead you to believe that active funds were by far the better performer, where on average, this was not the case.
Asking the right questions
As many of us may have learned from using AI tools so far, much about the quality of the answer relies on how specific you are in your questioning.
This can be an issue if you don’t even know what questions to ask. For example, if you are saving for a home, but you don’t explain this in your question, you won’t get an answer that’s curated towards this goal. Where a professional adviser would likely ask you what your goals are, an AI tool may or may not.
In the example of saving for a house, knowing what you’re saving for could bring up more appropriate accounts such as a Lifetime ISA. If you didn’t know about the benefits of this account, you could miss out on the 25% government bonus payment on contributions, which would be a big loss in your savings.
This also came into play for questions around pensions. Although the AI tools would explain that higher earners can get more tax relief through pension contributions, it did not explain without further prompting that you might need to fill out forms with HMRC to get that money back. Without being aware of these quirks, savers could be left with less in their pockets.
Striking a balance with AI
AI is becoming a part of making financial decisions, especially among younger generations. Among those aged 18 to 34 in our survey, 35% reported basing financial decisions off AI, and another 23% said they got financial information from it.
Users are likely to get a strong starting point, and some helpful information through researching their finances this way. Using AI as a jumping off point, and then doing additional research on trusted sites, might provide a fuller picture for your investment journey.
It also may be helpful to do a little preparation work before you start, such as writing down specific questions you want to ask, and sense checking as you go along to make sure that the answers you’re being given are taken from trusted sources. Once you have an idea of what you might want to do, read up about it separately to ensure you aren’t missing anything important.
Hannah Williford: Content Writer
Hannah joined AJ Bell in 2025 as an investment writer. She was previously a journalist at Portfolio Adviser Magazine, reporting on multi-asset, fixed income and equity funds, as well as macroeconomic impacts and regulatory changes...
