A recent study highlights the increasing dependence of investors on AI technologies, particularly ChatGPT, for making financial decisions. According to the University of Washington, by December 2024, nearly half of U.S. investors claimed to consult ChatGPT to interpret financial data and prepare investment decisions. This trend is also observable in Europe, indicating that reliance on AI for such critical tasks is becoming more common among investors.

The study, commissioned by the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten, and the consulting agency Nexxar in Vienna, involved a thorough analysis of how ChatGPT performs concerning financial data. Over three months, a team of twenty individuals from St. Pölten posed detailed questions about twenty publicly traded companies in Europe. They analyzed 24,000 responses from ChatGPT which raised concerns about the reliability of the AI’s output, as many of the provided financial insights appeared to be incorrect or misleading.

The implications of this study are significant, as they indicate potential risks for investors who may unintentionally rely on flawed AI-generated information. With the growing integration of AI into investment decision-making processes, there is an urgent need for better training and accuracy of AI models, as well as increased investor education about the limitations of these technologies to prevent misinformed investment decisions.