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Jennifer Allen, who helps you create a website to promote your job as a real estate agent from your grocery list, says she uses ChatGpt for everything.
Unexpected hospital bills and hours away from work after giving birth were known to her when she began relying on credit cards. However, she was scared to tally the total amount and rarely looked at her bank account. Until one day she was wondering if it would help her as she called ChatGpt, or “chat.”
She gave the chatbot the information she needed, which told her she had accumulated $23,000 in debt. Surprised by the number, she wondered how she could pay it back. Allen said he wasn’t even considering talking to a financial planner. But she asked chatgpt.
“Even if the financial planner says something to me, I’ll still go chat to get them to do it,” Allen told USA Today.
She urged the chatbot to give her what she can do every day to pay off her debts and documented the Tiktok process. By the end of the two 30-day assignments, she followed the advice of the bot and came up with $13,078, earning additional money from the Tiktok Creator Rewards program. She said she currently has less than $5,000 in debt.
Not everyone follows ChatGpt’s daily advice, but chatbots are experiencing rapid growth. According to Openai’s Nick Turley, it reaches approximately 700 million users each week.
CHATGPT is not the only artificial intelligence model where people rely on information. In the morning consulting survey, more than half of US adults refer to a summary of AI generation when searching online, with one in ten saying they don’t consult other sources. A survey from the Southeast of Oklahoma State University found that one in three Americans use AI tools to determine their careers.
Some believe that technology will change the field of financial planning. Others warn against seeking money advice and relying on it. And while some people may be selfish when they say they do a better job than AI, even the companies behind popular chatbots recommend attention. Large-scale language models like Gemini, according to Google, can “hastisfies” and present virtually inaccurate information.
USA Today asked five popular chatbots common personal finance questions. Here’s what they said and what financial experts thought about their reaction:
AI advice on retirement savings
USA Today asked three personal financial questions in the same order: ChatGpt, Claude, Copilot, Gemini and Grok.
Their answers were similar, but not identical. In a few seconds, the chatbot generates a slightly longer response, usually formatted in bullet points, providing examples and general advice with warnings.
Grok is the only model that provides a specific number in the final answer, about $1 million. But it asked us to provide more information to our users alongside ChatGpt and Copilot. Gemini recommended using a retirement calculator, and Claude proposed a meeting with a financial planner.
Everyone pointed out the 4% rule. This is a withdrawal strategy that allows retirees to safely lower their savings in the year they retire, and adjust for inflation each year after that. However, the rule is over 30 years old, and its creator said it was outdated in 2022.
“Everyone has one number. If a chatbot tries to answer this question without asking for information, it’s useless,” said Anamaria Rusaldi, who leads Stanford’s initiative for financial decisions. “The 4% rule of thumb is completely outdated… If you follow it, you have a very high probability.”
AI advice on credit scores
The chatbot’s response to the question “How can I improve my credit score?” was almost identical. They proposed states that pay bills on time, keep credit usage low and maintain healthy credit combinations.
“This is a much easier question for ChatGpt to answer correctly, as all this information is available on the FICO Score website, for example,” says Lusardi. “If you compare these two questions, this is really the type of situation where you can have rules for everyone.”
Greg Clement is the CEO and founder of Freedomology, a technology and coaching company that launched its own chatbot to help people with finances, health and relationships. He has been working as a financial planner for eight years and thinks the popular AI model is useful when people are asking financial questions, but their answers are still “very vague and general.”
“It’s as if you’re talking to 100 financial planners, asking 100 people the same question and trying to combine all the answers into one summary,” Clement said.
Between the documented bias of AI and fraudulent behavior to understand things on a human level, Tori Dunlap, a money expert who founded the first 100K, is skeptical of people who rely on technology.
“It’s there as your digital robot personal assistant. It’s not intended to help you challenge, push you back or think differently. That’s what coaches and experts can do,” Dunlap said. “But if you don’t have financial advice, if you’re going to go to ChatGpt, I’ll take ChatGpt every time.”
What happens when you provide AI-specific numbers?
Using median household income and down payments in Illinois, USA Today asked the chatbot what home prices couples can buy in the state.
Before giving the numbers, most people asked users to consider factors like debt-to-income ratio, private mortgage insurance, property taxes and more. However, without asking for more details, each gave a different range.
ChatGpt and Gemini are the most optimistic, suggesting between $300,000 and $320,000 and between $275,000 and $325,000 and $325,000 respectively. Claude said $245,000 to $270,000, while Copilot said $225,000 to $250,000. Grok gave it a minimum range of $200,000 to $240,000.
“Personal funds are about our lives. I don’t know that I leave it to artificial intelligence without carefully checking and realizing that different things will have different outcomes for me,” Rusardi said. “Some of these suggestions are very simple and potentially less useful.”
Dunlap said the various answers for chatbots are the results of not being informed. If anyone asked this question, she said she would follow up by asking about their credit score, ideal mortgage payments, and interest rates.
“But before you do that, my question is: Do you actually want to be a homeowner or do you feel it’s necessary to succeed?” she said. “By definition, you’re talking to a robot. You’re not talking to someone who understands true, complicated human emotions.”
After all, when someone asks the AI this question, they’re talking to a chatbot who has never experienced homeownership.
“If young couples in the liberal studies community ask the same question, they’ll probably get answers from people who own the home for 10 or 20 years,” Clement said. “How do you replace it? I don’t think we can.”
What do AI companies recommend?
In chatting with the USA Today AI model, some disclaimers include the disclaimer that they are not financial advisors, and AI companies have some safeguards to actually check their answers.
Google’s double check feature highlights conflicting information online. The company’s help center points out that people shouldn’t rely on Gemini for financial advice.
The company behind Claude, a human spokesman, said people using the model are encouraged to view topics like compound interest and credit scores as easy-to-understand financial literacy tools. But they said Claude could help people get more information, while not replacing licensed experts with personalized financial decisions.
They recommend using Claude to learn and prepare smarter questions, but relying on certified professionals who can provide personalized advice when it comes to actual investment decisions and retirement strategies.
“The most successful approach we’re seeing is using Claude to level up financial literacy and incorporate that knowledge into real-world decisions,” a human spokesman said in a statement to USA Today. “They understand the terminology, recognize better opportunities, and feel more confident whether they are negotiating car loans, choosing jobs, or preparing for a retirement planning meeting.
In another statement to USA Today, a Microsoft spokesman said Copilot’s deep search mode allows people to be well informed in areas where careful evaluations are required, including financial decisions.
“With our eyes ahead, we’re focusing on making Copilot a better AI companion. It’s more personal and it feels natural to be used in everyday life,” the spokesman said. “AI can still make mistakes, so I always recommend checking people for sources and contacting their financial advisors when necessary.”
Allen said that she doesn’t take everything the AI is saying at face value, but she believes it as the reason why she ended up paying off a large portion of it because she doesn’t know how much debt she had.
“That’s what’s been different about this whole process,” Allen said. “I’m not afraid. I have a chat gupto by my side.”
Openai and Xai did not respond to USA Today’s request for comment.
Contact Rachel Barber at rbarber@usatoday.com and follow her at x @rachelbarber_
