Surprise, Your Money Is Already Being Managed by Artificial Intelligence
Humans aren’t always great at making financial decisions — enter autonomous finance
--
Spending a few dollars here on a good sale and a few more there on a fine meal is easy to justify. But then you end up with just enough money for avocado toast but not enough to ever set foot on the homeownership ladder.
That is, unless you’re using one of the popular personal finance management (PFM) apps that proactively nudge you to get better with your finances.
Over the past few years, the PFM software market has been growing at breakneck speed. By 2023, it’s expected to reach $1,213 million globally, up from a modest $837 million in 2017.
But higher revenue is likely not the only thing that will distinguish the PFM sector of 2023 from that of 2019.
The more interesting market trend right now is the rapid evolution of PFM solutions into A.I.-driven personal financial coaches (PFCs).
What’s autonomous finance?
“Autonomous finance — algorithm-driven financial services that make decisions or take action on a customer’s behalf.”
— Forrester Insights, August 2019
The big promise of autonomous finance is removing the human factor from financial decision-making and replacing it with A.I. wits. Or more precisely, providing users with access to a 24/7 personal finance coach that will assist with day-to-day money matters and long-term financial planning.
But will people trust A.I. to manage their money? According to research by Credit Karma, yes. The general public is more comfortable with the idea of autonomous finances than with self-driving cars.
And if you dig a bit deeper, that makes sense. Because most millennial consumers find finances too complex to grasp. Here’s more data to prove the point:
- 66% of millennials state they have little confidence in planning for and achieving their financial goals.
- 27% of older millennials have started saving for their children’s education, but 48% of them don’t know what a 529 plan is.
- Millennials answer 44%…
