ChatGPT popular as a stock market advisor in the USA – but be careful!

ChatGPT popular as a stock market advisor in the USA – but be careful!

San Francisco, 5/19/2023

ChatGPT has gained popularity among Americans as a stock market advisor. According to a recent Motley Fool poll, 47% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT for investment advice, and a clear majority would consider using it in the future.

The survey found that younger generations, particularly Millennials (50%) and Gen Z (53%), are more likely to use ChatGPT for stock recommendations than Baby Boomers (25%). Higher-income people (77%) were more likely to use the chatbot for investment advice than middle-income people (43%) and low-income people (23%). There were also gender differences: 41% of women used ChatGPT for investing, compared to 55% of men.

The big picture: AI has the potential to turn the financial industry upside down. A new study from the University of Florida found that after being trained on current headlines, ChatGPT used sentiment analysis to return over 500%, while an S&P 500 ETF returned -12% over the same period.

Still: ChatGPT’s training only ended in September 2021, so the answers would not reflect the period since then. Like other AI models, it tends to invent information when answers are lacking. Therefore, investors should exercise caution when using the tool.