Four in five less experienced investors have used AI for help with investing – and around two-thirds report doing so occasionally or regularly, according to a Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) research.

New research focused on 18- to 40-year-olds who own or are considering investments showed that 56% trust AI tools, more than TV and radio (47%), press (46%) or social media influencers (29%).

And people are getting more comfortable, with two-thirds expecting to lean on AI even more over the next year.

But the research also revealed that these investors may be misunderstanding the level of protection if they rely on AI to support their investing decisions:

Almost half (44%) mistakenly believe AI-generated financial information is regulated.

More than 1 in 3 (38%) believe it’s fine to make an investment decision based solely on the outputs of AI.

Around a third (32%) wrongly think they’d get compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) or Financial Ombudsman Service if AI advice went wrong.

But almost three quarters (73%) know that AI can provide inaccurate information. And 86% understood the need to check the sources referenced when using AI.

The regulator warns that general purpose AI chatbots are not regulated, although tools which are specifically set up to provide financial advice would be likely to fall within the FCA’s remit.

The research was conducted by the FCA via the platform Attest using a quantitative usage and attitudes (U&A) study. The survey was conducted on 24 July 2026 to understand consumer adoption, trust, comfort, and future expectations regarding the use of AI tools for personal investment research and financial decision-making in the UK market.