Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application in our everyday life is the current buzz topic doing the rounds at all dinner parties and braai’s. Anyone who is not using an AI agent/assistant to guide them, is made to feel nothing short of a prehistoric person belonging to a bygone age.

The 1^st Industrial Revolution happened in the late 1700’s and brought steam power and mechanisation to the work force. This was followed in the late 1800’s by electricity, mass production and the factory assembly line. The 3^rd Industrial Revolution in the late 1900’s brought computers into the sphere of everyday life and automated many tasks. Many noted scholars have commented that we are now in the early stages of the 4^th Industrial Revolution where AI, robotics and big data become the driving force of major economies.

There is currently a plethora of AI engines from which to choose and there is no doubt that their application can greatly increase productivity and become an enabler to working more efficiently. Whether you choose Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok is not the crucial question, it’s how and where you utilise it in your personal and business life that really matters.

Moral questions are currently being raised by politicians and leaders in our society as to whether checks and balances need to be adopted and applied with the fatalist types among us being convinced that civilisation as we know it, is about to end.

There is no doubt that the analytical capabilities of AI can greatly increase the length, depth and breadth of investment research and portfolio analysis. Your financial advisor should be embracing AI as an enabler to ensure that they can offer you a more thorough, deeper and insightful analysis of your portfolio. Not, so that they can now take 3 afternoons off a week and work on their golf handicap.

There is also the concern as to data security around information that is uploaded and processed through an AI engine. How confident are you that your advisor is not exposing your highly personal information to the wider cyber universe? What checks and balances are they undertaking to ensure the cybersecurity of this sensitive information.

When next you receive your portfolio summary from your financial advisor, does it still have that “personal” touch that speaks to you, your family and your personal financial goals.

All good financial advisors should be embracing AI as a valuable tool to increase their service levels to clients and to continue to be relevant to the families they serve. They should not be using AI to short cut their work or bypass applying their minds to clients’ unique and personal scenarios.

An advisor should also take great care that client data confidentiality is retained and the whole issue of cybersecurity is appropriately managed.

At Activ8 we value our deep and personal relationship with clients. We ensure that the advice we give is based on a genuine long-standing knowledge of the families we engage. Nothing is more important than the trust that clients place in us and the advice we give them.

PS – No part of this article was generated or vetted by any AI engine!