A new report by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation analyses consumer trust in financial professionals compared to AI in providing personal finance information. Despite the increasing use of AI in daily life, the majority of consumers still prefer personalised financial advice from professionals.
FINRA Foundation Report Examines Consumer Trust in Financial Professionals Versus AI
WASHINGTON, June 4, 2024 – The FINRA Investor Education Foundation has published a new report titled “The machines are coming (with personal finance information). Do we trust them?” Despite the growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in daily life, the report reveals that consumers still overwhelmingly prefer personalized financial advice from professionals over AI-generated information.
The findings are based on an experimental study involving more than 1,000 U.S. adults. Participants were asked about the trustworthiness of hypothetical financial advice provided by either a financial professional or AI across four specific topics: homeownership, projected stock and bond performance, portfolio allocation, and savings and debt information.
Key Insights:
– Reliance on Financial Advice: Over half of respondents seek financial advice from professionals (63%) and friends and family (56%), while only 5% turn to AI.
– Homeownership Information: Trust was relatively high for homeownership advice, notably higher when provided by a financial professional compared to AI.
– Stock and Bond Performance: Roughly one-third trusted performance predictions, whether sourced from AI (34%) or professionals (33%). White men and those with higher self-assessed financial knowledge were more inclined to trust AI.
– Portfolio Allocation: Information from financial professionals was trusted more (37%) than from AI (30%).
– Savings and Debt Management: Trust levels were generally high regardless of the source, although Black respondents showed a stronger preference for advice from financial professionals (69%) over AI (48%).
The report emphasizes the importance for the financial services industry to closely monitor how consumer interactions with AI evolve to better support informed financial decisions.
For more details, visit www.finra.org and www.finrafoundation.org.
