In TikTok we trust? Just ask ChatGPT

Recent data showed that almost half of advised clients with more than £1m in investable assets have used artificial intelligence for financial support. The Boring Money Advised Investor Report 2026 found that 44% had used AI alongside their adviser relationship.

For professional advisers, it highlights a significant and permanent change to the rules of engagement with customers.

The convenience and immediacy of AI tools means that we can throw out a whole bunch of questions and get the information we want (or think we want) within seconds. We’re also at the mercy of so-called ‘experts’ on every imaginable topic each time we scroll through social media.

It is a completely frictionless interaction. No leaving the house, or for that matter our sofa or bed. No need to make an appointment or put on ‘hard pants’. There might be a slight twinge to the conscience for some of us that we’re killing the polar bears with each prompt with pose, but the likes of ChatGPT are just making it so damn easy to bypass real live experts.

It can be a dangerous game though.

When AI becomes the adviser

Meanwhile, best-selling self-help author Mel Robbins caused a potential security crisis for her fans by encouraging them to upload their bank statements to ChatGPT to improve their financial wellbeing.

But the tech is getting more serious. Earlier this year, OpenAI launched a new AI-powered personal finance tool for ChatGPT Pro users in the US. It says will allow users to manage their spending, ask personalised financial planning questions and even plan for major life events.

The professionalisation of AI tools begs the question, will there be a place for humans in the future of financial services?

As the use of AI becomes more common, technical expertise alone becomes less of a differentiator. The firms that stand out will successfully connect with their customers in a more personal and immediate way.

The way you distinguish your brand and engage with your audience will determine if you can cut through a sea of spurious advice from rogue advisers and robots.

In short, it’s time to ‘get human’

Financial advice is not simply about processing data or producing a suitability report. It means understanding someone’s ambitions, relationships, worries and priorities. It requires trust, empathy, experience and judgment, particularly when clients are facing the moments that matter most in their lives.

Creativity and brand building depend on many of the same qualities. Technology can generate words, images and hundreds of variations, but it cannot fully understand what makes a business distinctive. Nor can it reliably recognise the idea that will make someone stop, feel something and remember it.

I talk a lot about humanising brands and bringing the people behind a business to the forefront. This is especially important in financial advice, where people are not an incidental part of the brand. They are often the reason a client chooses one firm over another.

Your people are your greatest differentiator

Your people are one of the few things a competitor – or AI – cannot replicate. Showing their personalities, values and expertise builds trust, creates a genuine point of difference and gives clients a reason to connect with the business, even if they are also using AI as a starting point.

Of course, for financial advisers, AI also has its uses. It can help organise information, summarise meetings, identify gaps, prepare initial drafts and reduce time spent on routine administration.

For advisers, that could create more time to listen, ask better questions and understand the family dynamics behind a financial decision. This means they can spend less time servicing processes and more time applying their experience, imagination and humanity.

Clients still want to feel heard and understood. They still want an adviser who can bring clarity to difficult decisions and reassurance to uncertain moments.

AI may be here to stay. And, there’s not a whole lot that advisers can do to stop people using it for financial guidance. The challenge, and the opportunity to stand out, is to become more human, not less.