33 Percent of Canadians Using AI to Manage Finances: Survey

One-third of Canadians use AI for financial planning, according to a new poll, but 68 percent said they do not believe AI understands how emotions influence financial planning.(Shutterstock)

One-third of Canadians are using artificial intelligence as a tool for managing their finances and investment portfolios, a BMO survey suggests.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is more popular among younger Canadians, BMO’s Real Financial Progress Index says, with 55 percent of Gen Z respondents using AI to help manage their financial affairs.

While only 33 percent of respondents across all generations use AI, the survey found the most common use, at 45 percent, was for learning more about personal finance topics.

Forty-three percent use AI to create or update household budgets and 42 percent use it to identify new investment strategies. Forty percent of those polled also use it to build savings and to create or update financial plans.

Just over half of respondents said they believed AI could help them make more informed financial decisions and make financial planning more accessible to people.

Despite the growing popularity of artificial intelligence, 68 percent of Canadians surveyed by Ipsos for the bank’s index report say they do not believe AI understands how emotions influence financial planning.

Of those who don’t currently use the technology for personal financial management, 30 percent are considering using it to learn more about personal finance topics. An additional 28 percent said they would consider its use to increase savings and 27 percent said they might use it to find new investment strategies, or create a household budget. Twenty-two percent said they would consider its use for retirement planning.

How Canadians Are Using AI

Finances are not the only area in which Canadians are increasingly employing AI. The survey found the technology is also being used for work and communication.

Fifty-percent of those polled said they are using AI to ask questions about topics of interest and 37 percent are using the technology for data analysis.

Productivity planning is another common AI use with  36 percent using AI to build business, travel, exercise and meal plans, and manage their schedules.

Many Canadians also said they are using AI in their creative process with 41 percent using it to develop written drafts and 39 percent using it for photo and/or video editing.

General AI use is even more common among Gen Z users. Seventy-nine percent of people 27 and younger said they use AI to ask questions about topics of interest, while 72 percent use it to create written drafts and a further 63 percent use it to build business, travel, exercise and/or meal plans.