People trust AI more than other humans when it comes to managing their money, study finds

Image: Dean Drobot/Shutterstock via ETX Studio

When it comes to managing their finances, humans have more trust in robots than in members of their own species, according to an Oracle study (Money and Machines: 2021 Global Study).

According to the United States firm and data management specialist, 67% of people polled said that they would trust robots more than humans to manage their money. Moreover, 53% of consumers said they would trust robots over themselves to make financial-related decisions.

To come to these conclusions, the firm polled 9,000 people in 14 countries (U.S., United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mexico and Saudi Arabia) in November and December 2020.

The COVID-19 effect

This enthusiasm for technology is even greater among business leaders, it seems, 77% of whom said they would trust robots more than finance teams on managing money. Some 34% thought that fraud detection would be more effective with an algorithm, while 25% thought that creating invoices would be more effectively achieved by a robot.

The study sought to explore the attitudes and behaviors of consumers and business leaders towards money, finances and budgets, as well as the role and expectations of artificial intelligence and robots in financial tasks and management.

“Our relationship with money has been changing for several years and the events of 2020 accelerated many of those trends. We now see robots as better positioned to manage many of the core elements of finance in our personal and professional lives,” reads the study conclusion.

In 2019, Oracle reported the results of a similar study exploring the changing relationship between people and technology at work. The study found that 64% of people polled reported trusting a robot more than their manager. It’s enough to make you seriously wonder about humans and their social skills. JB

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