Smart money app Plum has revealed that 61 per cent of young people trust AI to make financial predictions and decisions on savings and investments. The smart money app research comes from a survey focused on AI banking.
Plum AI banking research of 2,000 UK adults found that over half of those aged 18 to 34 are comfortable with AI making financial predictions for them. Forty-five per cent of the same age group are confident in sharing their data for the purpose of saving money. Just 15 per cent of those aged over 55 are happy to disclose the same data.
Furthermore, 50 per cent of the younger age group were comfortable trusting AI to make and enact decisions regarding savings and investments. Plum suggests that this could indicate a significant shift away from traditional financial advice, moving towards money management apps, AI advisors and more.
A number of findings further suggest that attitudes have shifted in favour of AI. Fifty-eight per cent of the youngest group felt comfortable using AI to prevent fraud or for facial recognition. Compared to a total of 52 per cent of all ages, shows that as time moves, more younger people are to consider using AI.
Other aspects of the AI banking survey about money saving also showed similar results. Fifty-six per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds would use AI for personalised shopping, whereas only 40 per cent of all ages agreed. Following these results, the overriding conclusion appears to be that younger people see a wide range of uses for AI. This age group seem to be more open-minded to experimenting with AI both inside and outside financial services.
Remaining scepticism surrounding AI
Across all ages, only around one in five (18 per cent) felt that they could benefit from financial apps that use AI. Even among the youngest age group, just shy of one in four (24 per cent) thought AI-powered apps could help their finances. The findings show that, while younger people appear to be more open to using AI, a complete shift is yet to be completed, with evidence of significant scepticism remaining.
When surveyees were asked if they understood how AI could impact their life for the better, 46 per cent said they did not. The results highlight that many people do not see AI a benefit generally in most life contexts. Instead, people appear to understand AI more in smaller, more specific contexts.
Victor Trokoudes, CEO and co-founder of Plum, offered his verdict on the research.
Trokoudes explained the AI banking research results: “Your first thought when you hear the words ‘artificial intelligence’ might be the Hollywood-inspired futuristic robot that can think like a human and take over the world. But what we’re actually starting to see are real-world, useful applications of AI that benefit your everyday life.
“They might not be taking over the world, but this type of AI is having a democratising effect on financial services, which is really exciting. Smart technology means everyone can cheaply access services that previously would have been gate-kept by those with enough money to afford expensive services or advisers.
“That said, our data still shows that more education is required so that people understand better the technology they are using, even among younger people. While they might be comfortable using AI in a specific context, they still struggle to understand the wider benefits of adopting technology like AI in general.
“This speaks to a wider issue we face in the fintech sector. As an industry, we need to make sure we are educating our customers and not alienating them with complexity and jargon, so as many people as possible can benefit from the opportunities that AI brings.”
