Over 5 million Brits have been harmed by wrong advice from an AI chatbot – from lost money to health scares and damaged relationships – reveals research by Uswitch, the comparison and switching service.

The way Britain uses the internet is shifting again – from searching the web to confiding in it. More than two in five (43 per cent) UK adults have asked a chatbot for advice on something personal – most often their health, money or career – and almost half who have used it for this purpose (48 per cent) trust its advice as much as, or more than, a friend or family member.

But the bot can be a confident bluffer. Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of AI users say incorrect chatbot advice has caused them a real problem – ranging from financial losses (25 per cent) to health scares (24 per cent), damaged relationships (21 per cent), and embarrassment (30 per cent).

Blind faith is widespread: almost one in five (18 per cent) UK adults – nearly 10 million people – have acted on a chatbot’s personal advice with no second opinion, climbing to two in five (40 per cent) of Gen Z. Regulators are moving, with the UK Government bringing chatbots within the Online Safety Act and new EU rules requiring chatbots to remind users they are machines. But no rulebook can stop a bot being confidently wrong – so the safety net, for now, is a second opinion.

The chatbot has also become the nation’s confessional. One in six (17 per cent) Brits have told AI something they have never told another person – doubling to 35 per cent of under-35s. The reasons are clear: it is always available (22 per cent), private and anonymous (20 per cent), it won’t judge (18 per cent), and it won’t gossip (14 per cent) – while more than one in ten (12 per cent) simply don’t want to burden the people in their lives.

Used carefully, the bot can be a way in, rather than a way out. For the one in five (21 per cent) who would feel embarrassed or judged asking a professional, a chatbot can be a first step to getting help – and users are more likely to say they now open up to friends and family more since turning to AI (21 per cent) than less (16 per cent).

Millions would even take the bot’s advice over a qualified professional – drawn by answers that are faster than waiting for an appointment (43 per cent) and cheaper than paying for advice (41 per cent).

Ernest Doku, Uswitch technology expert, commented: “We’ve watched Britain’s internet habits change for 25 years, and this is the fastest shift yet. We used to type a question into a search bar and weigh up the results – now millions of us ask a chatbot and take its word for it, on some of the most personal things in our lives. Used well, AI is a brilliant sounding board – always awake, never judgemental, and often the first step for people who would struggle to ask anyone at all. But its greatest strength – that it always has an answer – is also its biggest risk. It sounds just as confident when it’s wrong as when it’s right, and this research shows the cost when that trust is misplaced.”

“So keep talking to the bot, but treat its answers as a starting point rather than the final word. If the stakes are big – your health, your money or a big life decision – get a human second opinion before you act,” concluded Doku.

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Categories: AI, App, APPS, Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Research

Tags: AI, uswitch