‘Computer says no’: I asked AI the pitfalls of asking AI for money advice

September 26, 2026 — 6:00am

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Managing money well can be, well, confusing. It can even be confronting. And how are many of us are solving such issues these days with the help of artificial intelligence “buddies”.

Heck, I even have friends who use AI to draft replies to tricky text messages from their mum.

So is it any surprise that more than three million Australians are already using AI to help manage their financial activity, with the highest number – 25 per cent – among Gen Z Australians, says a new Understanding Modern Australia report.

Not that we necessarily – thank goodness – trust it. The report, by life insurer TAL with McCrindle, found only 22 per cent of us feel comfortable using AI to help make major financial decisions and only 20 per cent trust AI to recommend a financial product suited to their needs.

So, I thought I’d try an experiment: I asked AI the pitfalls of asking AI for money advice – and whoa.

In an emphatic “computer-says-no”, here are the 10 reasons the AI gave me not to use it – and how I might. (I’ve grouped them where AI doubled and even tripled down.)

‘An LLM’s training data has a cut-off, and even with web search, it can miss nuance, fail to update thresholds, blend outdated and current rules without flagging the difference.’An AI’s response

1. No accountability or duty of care

Yep, good point, Claude! No care and no responsibility does not make for the ideal economic confidante. The rules and requirements to give financial........

© The Sydney Morning Herald