



AI chatbots as your investment advisor: The risks investors aren't seeing
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. What could go wrong if an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot is asked for the “best restaurants in New Delhi"? At worst, you waste an evening. But ask the same chatbot for the “best mutual funds to invest in", and the consequences can be far more serious—your retirement, child’s education, or long-term wealth goals could take a hit.
An AI chatbot is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to understand what you type or say and tries to reply like a human. Popular examples include ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, etc. Chatbots are fast becoming part of everyday life: from finding the best hotel, planning a three-day trip, to choosing the best TV, to self-help guides, AI has taken over the imagination of many households.
Money management naturally can’t be too far behind. To understand the popularity, we asked ChatGPT how common investment-related queries from India are. The answer was predictable: given India’s high retail participation, investment-related questions rank among the most frequent and consistently high-engagement prompts.
While AI chatbots are a great tool to learn concepts, narrow down choices or even discover options, the risk lies in treating recommendations as advice. Action-oriented money decision-making driven by AI can be risky because chatbots have no accountability or fiduciary responsibility. So when you ask your AI tool for the best mutual fund in the market, understand that the answer may be more a function of the fund's visibility, repetition and other factors rather than your age, risk profile or even your investment goal.
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