Artificial intelligence is transforming how people gather information and make decisions — including on matters of money.
In fact, generative AI, which can supplant a human’s analytical skills, is taking on the role of a financial advisor for a significant number of adults, recent reports show.
Two-thirds, or 66%, of Americans who have utilized a GenAI tool like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini said they’ve used it for financial advice, according to a September report by Intuit Credit Karma. For Gen Z and millennials, the share is much higher: 82% use it for everything from simple budgeting to more complicated tax planning and investing.
“GenAI is a powerful tool for learning, planning, and managing your money,” Courtney Alev, Intuit Credit Karma’s consumer financial advocate, said in a statement. However, she said, “finances are nuanced and deeply personal.”
“AI can give you ideas on a safe withdrawal rate, but it’s ignoring the personal and emotional part of it,” said Tim Lootens, managing director of Chilton Capital Management in Houston, which is ranked No. 34 on this year’s CNBC Financial Advisor 100 list.
When AI gets it wrong
Increasingly, clients are checking the advice they receive against GenAI’s recommendations, Lootens said. However, the advice they get from a tool like ChatGPT often comes with caveats, he said, particularly with complicated financial planning scenarios.
For example, GenAI might recommend selling stocks at the end of the year and replacing them with something similar to score a tax break and take advantage of the so-called “wash sale rule,” Lootens said. But it may not make sense to sell some declining assets from your brokerage account if the losses are only minimal, he said. Or ChatGPT might suggest dumping one stock in a portfolio of 30 to 40 stocks. In that case, “you can’t see the forest for the trees,” Lootens said.
“If you don’t stand up to some of this misapplication of information, you’ll find out people will harm themselves,” he said.
On the flipside, Lootens said, AI can be a valuable tool for both clients and advisors, especially when it comes to summarizing information or running scenarios with historical data.
Although most clients still trust their advisor over AI tools alone, younger generations now prefer working with advisors who use AI in their financial planning, Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 planning & progress study found.
From predicting future trends to modeling financial scenarios, “it’s encouraging to see consumer reactions around the usage of AI in the financial services industry, including their receptivity to advisors thoughtfully integrating this technology,” Jeff Sippel, chief strategy officer at Northwestern Mutual, said in a statement.
‘A defining moment’ for financial planners
For financial planners, “this is a defining moment that brings extraordinary promise alongside new responsibilities,” according to a November paper by the CFP Board, the credentialing organization behind the certified financial planner designation for financial advisors.
“How we adapt and harness AI will determine whether technology enhances or displaces the trusted space between financial planners and clients,” the CFP Board wrote in its research.
According to Kurt Cooperrider, a wealth advisor at Chilton Capital Management, “you absolutely have to be adopting AI from an efficiency standpoint if you want to compete with other firms.”
Technological advances are quickly reshaping the profession, the CFP Board report also found, “creating powerful opportunities to streamline tasks, expand access to guidance and deliver more personalized client experiences.”
And yet, AI is no substitute for a vetted financial advisor, according to the report: “Even as AI advances, the foundation of competent, ethical financial planning remains the trusted human relationships between financial planners and their clients.”
Disclosure: CNBC receives no compensation from placing financial advisory firms on our Financial Advisor 100 list. Additionally, a firm or an advisor’s appearance on our ranking does not constitute an individual endorsement by CNBC of any firm or advisor.