Nineteen percent of the respondents in a survey by Pearl. com admitted they’ d lost more than $ 100 because of bad AI advice. The percentage was higher among Gen Z users, with 27 % reporting losing more than $ 100, thanks to AI.

And a comparative study by Encor- Estate Plans of four popular generative AI chatbots— ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Mode— used in estate planning found the chatbots were capable of answering basic questions but sometimes struggled with providing good, accurate advice when more nuance was thrown in.

“ While it’ s valid to turn to AI for answers, our findings show it’ s a dangerous gamble, with 22 % of Americans following medical advice from AI that was later proven wrong and 19 % losing real money from bad AI advice,” wrote Andy Kurtizg, founder and CEO of Pearl. com, in the survey report.“ AI is a phenomenal tool, but it’ s not a stand-alone solution for professional services.”

Of the 2,000 participants in the survey, 38 % said they used AI instead of a human expert because it was convenient, and 21 % said the cost of expert services was too high. Twenty percent said they had used AI to help them with personal finance, compared with 23 % for tech support, 21 % for medical issues and 19 % for home improvement.

In general, 9 % said they had acted on AI tax advice in the past 30 days, 22 % said they followed AI stock-buying advice, 21 % said they took AI’ s suggestions for buying cryptocurrency, and 27 % said they thought AI could provide all the financial advice they’ d ever need, the survey said. es were higher— with 30 % following AI’ s general stock-picking tips, 27 % buying AI’ s crypto suggestions, and 33 % saying AI could satisfy all their financial advice needs.

Pearl. com is an AI platform that integrates generative AI with a network of 12,000 human experts to provide verified answers to questions. According to the firm, its output is 55 % more accurate than just the generative AI alone in professional services. The survey

was conducted for Pearl. com by Censuswide, with a sample of 2,000 Americans.

Meanwhile, the study conducted by EncorEstate Plans, a provider of estate planning software for RIAs, looked at whether consumers could use chatbots to create estate plans in the same way they’ re using them to put together travel itineraries or language lessons.

The study, conducted in August, submitted 46 common estate planning questions to the free versions of today’ s most popular chatbots— ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Mode. The answers were then reviewed by a group of EncorEstate’ s professionals and scored for accuracy and effectiveness on a scale of“ A” to“ F.”

Overall, all four returned high-scoring, accurate answers to simple estate planning questions, such as“ What makes a good trustee on my trust?” But for more complex questions— such as“ What are good restrictions for my children that are bad with

money?”— the chatbots provided answers of varying quality, the study said.

For example, for that question, ChatGPT’ s answer received a“ C” from the human experts when it said,“ Restrictions could include limiting their access to funds until they reach a certain age or requiring them to complete educational programs before they receive their inheritance. You can also include provisions to ensure funds are used responsibly.”

Among Gen Zers, all those percentag- Continued on page 11

NOVEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 9