Artificial intelligence is coming for everything, including your bank account. Eventually, in South Africa’s case, but ChatGPT users in the States (who give Sam Altman’s company money) have the option to start right now.
The AI chatbot shouldn’t wind up making payments for you — that’s a custom option, if you’re brave enough — but giving OpenAI’s AI access to your financial accounts will apparently result in better financial advice from ChatGPT.
Show ChatGPT the money
Of course, you probably shouldn’t treat any AI’s financial advice as… well, financial advice, but giving it access to your balances, transactions, investments, and other basics could result in something to think about. The American partnership for ChatGPT Pro users, through a third-party called Plaid, won’t give the AI access to account numbers or the accounts themselves.
In other words, you’ll remain the greatest risk to your financial status. This applies even if you’re uncritically following ChatGPT’s financial advice. This, helpfully, limits liability for OpenAI while still allowing the company to unleash itself on your monetary policy. Microsoft recently rebranded its Copilot AI as “for entertainment purposes only.” This hands-off approach might permit ChatGPT to avoid that step for a little longer… until someone loses a literal fortune.
OpenAI’s Pro users in the States can look for the new ‘Finances’ tab in the AI app and follow (or ask GPT to supply) the prompts needed to connect their accounts. After that, AI-powered financial choices will be at their fingertips. Other users are likely to get the feature soon, too. A spokesperson said to Engadget that “We’re starting with a preview to a smaller group so we can learn from real-world use, improve the experience, and expand thoughtfully.”
