How Savvy Ladies uses AI to improve women’s financial literacy

Most Americans view money as a private subject, and women are among the most reluctant to engage in financial conversations.

But not asking the questions they need help with can hold them back financially, experts say.

A women-focused nonprofit has launched a new way to help them get faster responses to their queries through the use of an online AI chatbot.

The organization, Savvy Ladies, was founded more than 20 years ago by Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner and president and CEO of Francis Financial in New York.

After watching her grandmother stay in an abusive situation because she lacked financial resources, Francis started the nonprofit with the goal of helping other women avoid similar situations.

The new chatbot – delivered through Microsoft Copilot – allows Savvy Ladies website visitors to enter their financial questions and receive immediate answers curated from website content written by CFPs and other financial professionals.

“We want to make sure we’re able to help any person, any woman who has a question,” said Francis, who is also a member of CNBC’s FA Council. “It’s something she can go on literally at 3 a.m. and be able to get her question answered.”

This first engagement always ends with an invite through the Savvy Ladies Helpline for a one-on-one conversation with a professional who can provide advice and guidance.

“We want everyone to learn and grow their knowledge, while feeling like they can come and ask their own questions and be matched,” said Judy Herbst, executive director of Savvy Ladies.

Artificial intelligence language models can play an important and scalable role in financial literacy, said Michael Roberts, the William H. Lawrence Professor of Finance at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

But today’s tools are still developing and complement, rather than replace, our own personal financial knowledge and decision-making, he said.

“To use these tools, you need to be able to engage with them; but to be able to engage with them, you need to be able to know what questions to ask (and) how to ask them,” Roberts said. “And you have to be able to understand the answers that come to you.”

Because of the rapid pace of progress in this area, it’s difficult to predict where these tools will be, even in a year or two, Roberts said.

Individual investors are already showing signs that they are starting to adopt these tools.

Investors are more likely to trust advice from generative AI tools than advice from social media, according to a survey released last year by the CFP Board, a trade organization representing professional financial planners.

Still, they are more likely to be comfortable following this advice once it has been vetted by a financial planner, the findings show.

Technology experts who serve on the Savvy Ladies board hope the new chatbot will help expand the nonprofit’s reach.

“We live in a world where you’re scrolling through TikTok or Instagram and you want an instant response,” said Julia Rodgers, CEO of Hello Prenup and Savvy Ladies board member.

“It’s very important for nonprofits like Savvy Ladies to keep up this pace so we can continue to roll out these services to those who need them,” she said.

Since Savvy Ladies launched the tool, the chatbot has received questions about how to set a monthly budget, build better credit and make more money, according to Herbst.

The nonprofit continues to refine the chatbot, she said. One goal is to ensure that one’s voice aligns with the organization’s mission.

“It’s a browser, but we want it to be a soft-spoken female voice,” Herbst said.