1 in 5 Americans Use AI for Financial Advice, But Trust Remains Low: Gallup Poll

Some adults use AI for financial advice, but trust is still low, Gallup poll finds

About one in five Americans who have sought financial advice in the past year turned to AI, the survey found. But among U.S. adults overall, only about three in 10 have "a great deal" or "some" confidence in its expertise for managing money, according to the survey, including just 3% who trust AI "a great deal." The poll, which was conducted in the spring and looked at the views of adults who are at least 21, found a disconnect between the resources Americans trust for financial advice and the ones they actually rely on. About eight in 10 U.S. adults have at least "some" confidence in financial advisers. But only about one-third of adults who sought financial advice turned to a professional financial adviser. Far more, 73%, said they relied on their own internet research. As the use of AI increases, financial experts say consumers should be cautious about fully trusting these tools. Using AI as a tool at the start of a learning journey and combining this knowledge with other trusted sources can be the best way to engage with new and traditional financial guidance tools, said Taha Choukhmane, associate professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

Few Americans confident in financial advice from AI: Gallup

As artificial intelligence's influence continues to grow in the United States, fewer Americans trust the technology's financial advice, with only social media influencers falling below it. A new Edward Jones-Gallup poll released Wednesday showed only 27 percent of respondents had "some" or "a great deal" of trust in AI as a source of financial guidance, but 73 percent trusted it "not much" or "none at all." Americans were most confident in financial advisors with 79 percent trusting the professionals "some" or "a great deal." The lowest category was social media influencers with 86 percent of Americans having "not much" or "none at all" trust in the group. Among Americans who have sought financial advice, 18 percent received advice from artificial intelligence tools while 73 percent used their own internet research. "AI seems to be nudging people in the right direction," Tim de Silva, an assistant professor of finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business, said in an interview about his paper on AI use for financial advice. "It's not perfect, but it's better than the way many people make decisions, such as talking to friends and family or doing simple internet searches. "That's not something that should be taken for granted: It's not at all obvious LLMs would provide good financial advice, because the way they are trained has nothing to do with that objective," he continued. The poll arrives at a time when AI is beginning to replace customer service jobs. Uber cut about 10 percent of its customer support team, while Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff credited AI with allowing the company to remove 4,000 customer support roles. American optimism in the technology has generally declined with another Gallup poll reporting that 39 percent believe AI does more than good. This follows a July incident at OpenAI where two of its newest models gained access to the internet and broke into Hugging Face's database in what the company called an "unprecedented" event. A new employee-led initiative, which asks the U.S. government to "deliberately pace" frontier AI development, has gained traction and is now backed by Anthropic and OpenAI. The Edward Jones-Gallup survey took place between March 20 and April 6. It surveyed 5,075 American adults with a margin of sampling error of 1.8 percentage points.

Some use AI for financial guidance but few trust it, Gallup poll finds - The Korea Times

NEW YORK (AP) -- Some U.S. adults are using artificial intelligence for financial guidance, but it's far from the most trusted source of advice, according to a new Gallup survey conducted in partnership with Edward Jones, a financial services firm. About 1 in 5 Americans who have sought financial advice in the past year turned to AI, the survey found. But among U.S. adults overall, only about 3 in 10 have "a great deal" or "some" confidence in its expertise for managing money, according to the survey, including just 3 percent who trust AI "a great deal." The poll, which was conducted in the spring and looked at the views of adults who are at least 21, found a disconnect between the resources Americans trust for financial advice and the ones they actually rely on. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults have at least "some" confidence in financial advisers. But only about one-third of U.S. adults who sought financial advice turned to a professional financial adviser, with far more, 73 percent, saying they relied on their own internet research. As the use of AI increases, financial experts say consumers should be cautious about fully trusting these tools. Using AI as a tool at the start of a learning journey and then combining this knowledge with other trusted sources can be the best way to engage with new and traditional financial guidance tools, said Taha Choukhmane, associate professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management. "I would encourage people to use AI to explain and define," Choukhmane said. "If you're interested in knowing what the stock market is, what the difference between a mutual fund and an index fund is. Using AI to explain these concepts can be very useful because it can empower people to get the most out of these methods." Most Americans have sought financial guidance from at least one source in the past year, the survey found. In addition to those who said they used internet research, financial advisers, or AI, 35 percent went to a parent, sibling, or relative, while 26 percent got information from news, media or social media. About 2 in 10 said they turned to a friend or an author, speaker, or influencer, and fewer relied on an employer or retirement plan provider, a robo-advisor or a teacher or professor. Younger generations are more likely to say they've used AI for financial advice, while older adults are more likely to have turned to a professional financial adviser. Affordability can often deter younger adults from hiring a financial adviser. While doing research online, asking family and friends and using AI can have minimal costs, hiring a professional can require a bigger financial commitment. About a quarter of Gen Z and millennial adults who looked for financial advice in the past year went to AI, compared to 16 percent of Gen Xers and just 7 percent of baby boomers. But while only 14 percent of Gen Z adults and 21 percent of millennials who sought guidance turned to a professional financial adviser, that rose to 34 percent of Gen X adults and about half, 55 percent, of baby boomers. Since AI interacts with specific user prompts, the advice can vary depending on how questions are asked. But asking general questions about personal finance can help people understand complex financial terms. Choukhmane also recommends asking AI to provide references to trusted sources to verify the information provided. While AI can be utilized for research, some financial experts are skeptical about the legal responsibilities of the technology. Certified financial planners have a legal responsibility to give the most fitting advice while AI tools don't. Ultimately, the decisions a person makes based on AI advice are their responsibility. "Fiduciary responsibility is very real," said Bobbi Rebell, certified financial planner and founder of Financial Wellness Strategies. "There's no AI that is a fiduciary. It doesn't really know your life; it's not asking you all the questions." The poll of 5,075 U.S. adults ages 21 and older was conducted March 20-April 6, 2026, using a sample drawn from Gallup's probability-based panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for U.S. adults overall is plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.