Study Warns AI Financial Advice Can Be Inaccurate and Biased
A study published in the Journal of Financial Planning found that seven widely used AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, gave inconsistent, incomplete, or demographically biased financial advice when tested with identical prompts. Researchers altered race and gender in the prompts and found significant variation in recommendations on emergency savings and retirement portfolios. Experts say AI can be a starting point but should not replace a licensed financial advisor.
Seven popular AI platforms gave inconsistent, incomplete, or biased financial advice when tested with identical prompts, according to a study published in the Journal of Financial Planning in June 2026.
Researchers from the University of Georgia and other institutions tested free versions of ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, DeepSeek, Gemini, Meta AI, and Perplexity. They asked each platform questions about emergency savings, asset allocation, and retirement portfolio withdrawals.
The study found "significant variation" in how the platforms responded, even when the questions were identical. Researchers also altered race and gender details in the prompts and found that some platforms gave different recommendations based on those demographic factors, raising concerns about bias.
"AI outputs may be incomplete, misleading, or incorrect despite sounding authoritative," the study's authors wrote. Financial planning professors Swarn Chatterjee, Brenda Cude, and Gianni Nicolini led the research.
Andrew Lo of MIT, who was not involved in the study, said AI tools are prone to "hallucinations," meaning they can state false information with confidence. He added that AI lacks a fiduciary duty to users, meaning it has no legal obligation to act in their best financial interest.
About 66 percent of Americans who use generative AI have applied it to financial questions, according to survey data cited in the study. That figure rises to 82 percent among Gen Z and millennials.
Researchers concluded that AI should complement professional financial advice, not replace it. They noted that paid versions of AI platforms and future models may perform differently than the free versions tested in the study.
