If You Want to Outsource Personal Finance Tasks to an AI Agent, It is Worth Understanding Why
Hi Friendos,
Last week I read a reporter’s account of testing a Meta AI agent called Muse. The reporter, Eli Tan, wrote, “I had to trust Muse with my most personal data, which included connecting it to my bank accounts and email.” Oh my! Although Tan emphasizes the tradeoff between “convenience” and “privacy,” I am with the commenter who wrote, “trust Meta? Hahahaha.” But also, I think there is something deeper going on and question if this “convenience” truly belongs in the plus column.
Tan asked the robot to perform many tasks, including tracking their spending. They had a “clarifying moment” after the robot flagged and canceled two duplicated subscriptions and requested a refund for a free newspaper trial that had expired. I would also feel that way if I realized that I was paying twice for the same thing every month. I wondered how it happened that Tan did not discover the duplicates without the robot’s assistance.
There are multiple possible causes, such as:
- Tan finds it emotionally difficult to review their statements each month. I can understand this and there’s no shame in it. If that’s happening, I think Tan would benefit from “doing the work” to achieve neutrality for this situation.
- Tan uses a smartphone to review monthly account statements. Smartphones are wonderful for certain tasks, but are not always good for reviewing monthly statements.
- Tan has too many accounts! If I had an $18 charge for a streaming service on both Credit Card #1 and Credit Card #2, and I receive Statement #1 on the 12th of the month and Statement #2 on the 25th of the month, each time I might think “yep, I have that service, that’s a legit charge” and not realize I was paying twice. When you must connect something across statements and across time, you’ll probably miss it. Simple has many benefits.
Or maybe it’s something else.
I am not at all against outsourcing or using technology tools for personal finance. But I do recognize that when we outsource personal finance tasks to a robot or a financial advisor or a partner, we lose direct contact with our money and this may need countering. You must provide oversight of both financial advisors and partners. Technology can make things happen so quickly that helpful thoughts don’t have a chance to bubble up. Reviewing my credit card statement is an opportunity to meditate on my spending decisions. Looking at my investment statement is a chance to affirm or reevaluate the execution of my financial plan. To me, even the utility bill is a chance to check in with my energy use and feel gratitude that I can afford to live in comfort.
I take money matters very seriously and recognize that money touches everything in our lives. Decisions about spending do reflect what a person values, but I don’t think it is possible to sit down one time, identify what is the Good Life, and then just execute on that the rest of your life. Rather, I think this is something we must continuously engage with, like nutrition or a spiritual practice. I think you should embrace technological tools that serve you, but also don’t be afraid to do something “inefficiently” if that is what truly serves your needs.
-Stephanie
