I’m massively distrustful of AI bots like ChatGPT. I can see the value of artificial intelligence in some places: It can be great for clerical aspects of my job, helpful for my volunteer work with my son’s baseball team, and a useful launching point for research. Where I run into issues with it is the public’s seemingly blind trust.
Although we call it AI, it isn’t truly intelligent. All ChatGPT does is scan the millions of pieces of human-fed knowledge ever put onto the internet, find the commonalities, and construct an answer based on the most common denominator. It doesn’t freely think. It doesn’t have the blessings or burdens of the lived human experience. And it is often, well … wrong.
Using it for financial advice can be extremely risky. Even though it can be helpful in assisting with understanding the basics of complex financial topics, such as the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA, or helping compare a company’s financial statements, it still needs human oversight. According to Investopedia, researchers at MIT found that generative AI systems still need proper financial training models to provide accurate advice, which the public doesn’t have access to yet.
But, one postpartum mom would probably disagree with everything I just said. According to an exclusive with People, a new mom revealed that generative AI helped her tackle $23,000 in debt. Jennifer Allan turned to the bot after racking up credit card debt during a bout of postpartum depression, brought on by her baby’s long NICU stay, which also hindered her ability to work.
@_jenn.allan Part 1| ChatGPT helped me series #chatgpt #gentleparenting #parentinghack #chatgpthack #chatgpttips ♬ original sound – Jenn|Debt Free Journey 💸
“I was like, ‘I really don’t want to touch this emergency fund, so I’ll just start putting it on credit cards,'” Allan said of her decision. “I’ll pay it off. It’s not a big deal. And then, it’s like, you kick the can down the road.”
Stuck between a rock and a hard place, she turned to ChatGPT — which she said she uses for “everything” anyway. She created a 30-day challenge for herself, prompting the AI daily as a ChatGPT+ user and asking for ways to cut her debt. She even uploaded her financial information to help it better understand her situation.
“I’m also the type to upload my bank statements and be like, ‘Where can I cut money? What am I spending on? What can I do?'” she said. “So for me, no, I wasn’t worried about it.”
Investopedia warns against doing this, for the record, as the chat can indefinitely store the information — potentially exposing users to identity theft.
Regardless, the tool helped her build a debt repayment tracker and walked her through how to use it in Google Sheets. Some of the AI’s suggestions were practical, such as checking for unclaimed money, which uncovered $700 for her LLC. Others were more out-of-the-box: One suggestion was to tattoo her debt amount onto a watermelon and sell it on eBay as “debt art.” She actually followed through with the idea, which went viral on TikTok. She sold the watermelon for $51.
It wasn’t a “windfall” of success every day, and there were other factors at play. One key moment was when ChatGPT reminded her of a $10K investment portfolio she had forgotten about, which helped her chip away at the debt. She’s still $5K away from hitting her goal but credits the exercise with helping her tackle the bulk of it. She also joined TikTok’s Creator Program and says the money she earned from social media went straight into her debt repayment fund.
“And ultimately, at the end of the day, looking at your debt every day and changing your mindset about it is really — that is the biggest thing that I’ve been able to pull out of this entire thing,” Allan said.
