MDRT Study: Half of all advisors' clients think their advisor is already using AI

Many Americans believe their advisor uses AI for at least one professional purpose.

PARK RIDGE, Ill. (March 5, 2025) – Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more popular with Americans in both personal and professional settings, and financial advising is no exception. According to a recent MDRT survey, 70.8% of U.S. consumers who have an advisor say they think advisors should use AI for at least one professional purpose, compared with 53.4% of consumers who don’t have an advisor. Since consumers with advisors are more accepting of AI, advisors should assess how they can tap in to the technology to streamline processes and take advantage of popular resources.

How advisors could use AI Among the many ways advisors can use AI in their practices, Americans are most comfortable with advisors using it for more clerical tasks. Using AI for 24/7 client assistance chatbots is most popular among consumers, with 31.2% of Americans saying they think advisors should use chatbots in their practices, including 37.6% of Americans with advisors. Similarly, 24.2% of Americans say they think advisors should use AI for general client communications, compared with only 12.2% of Americans who think advisors should use AI for internal employee onboarding.

About half (50.6%) of Americans with an advisor say their advisor is already using AI for at least one purpose, and the tasks they say their advisors are using AI for align with how consumers think advisors should leverage it. Client assistance chatbots continue to be the most popular option, with 22% of Americans with advisors saying their advisor uses chatbots in their practices and 21.2% saying their advisors use AI for client communications. On the other end of the spectrum, only 9.6% say their advisor uses AI for internal onboarding. Advisors being selective in the ways they use AI and keeping clients aware of their AI usage will help clients feel more secure in their advisors’ decision to incorporate AI in their practices.

Comfort with AI Using AI for smaller tasks is the safest way for advisors to avoid concern among clients. Americans are most comfortable with advisors using AI to automate tasks, such as conducting research, developing meeting summaries, etc., with 54.4% of Americans saying they agree they’re comfortable with it, including 70.7% of Americans with advisors. Men, both with and without advisors, are more likely to be comfortable with advisors using AI to automate tasks than women. Nearly 62% (61.7%) of men say they’re comfortable with advisors automating tasks with AI, including 73.5% of men with advisors and 56.6% of men without advisors. Alternatively, 47.9% of women are comfortable with advisors automating tasks with AI, including 66.4% of women with advisors and 43.5% of women without advisors.

On the other hand, Americans are not comfortable with advisors using AI for tasks requiring more personal information. Across generations, 41.9% of Americans say they are not comfortable with advisors using AI to provide tailored financial advice, though women and men do not agree on the subject. While 46.3% of men agree they’re comfortable with advisors using AI for tailored advice, 45.8% of women are not comfortable with AI being used in this way. Women with advisors are the most likely to disagree with advisors using AI for tailored advice, with 53% of women with advisors say they are not comfortable with it, compared with 43.8% of women without advisors, 35.7% of men with advisors and 41.7% of men without advisors.

“The widespread adoption of AI across industries highlights the need for financial services professionals to stay ahead of the curve by finding ethical ways to implement AI in their practices,” says MDRT Top of the Table member Panos Leledakis, LUTCF. “Advisors learning the best uses for AI in their practices and informing clients on the ways it will be used demonstrates their commitment to their clients and to continuous business development.”

The impact AI has on quality AI helps advisors enhance their capabilities, leading most Americans to see an improvement in the quality of their service. Among the 49.1% of Americans who say their advisor is already using AI, about half (53.8%) say the quality of advice they have received is at least somewhat better because of their advisor’s AI usage.

With the rapid evolution of AI across industries, financial services professionals should be prepared for the impact incorporating AI will have on their practices by learning how it can help manage small tasks as well as informing clients how they plan to leverage the tool before implementing it in their practices. Becoming more familiar with how to navigate AI while keeping clients updated on AI usage will showcase advisors’ dedication to continued growth and promote them as a trustworthy resource.

Survey methodology This survey was conducted by Opinium on behalf of MDRT through a panel of individuals who have agreed to take part in surveys. Fieldwork was undertaken January 30–February 5, 2025, with a representative sample of 2,000 U.S. consumers, weighted on age, gender, region, race, ethnicity and education according to the 2020 U.S. Census.