Should AI Make Decisions for You?

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Should AI Make Decisions for You?

If you remember a couple of months ago, I told you that we were having a March Madness bracket competition in our office. Just for fun, we prompted an AI model to make some picks to see how it would do compared to the humans in the office. We used Co-Pilot, which was utilizing chat GPT at the time. The prompt that we gave it was to mostly stick with the statistical favorites, but to mix in some upset predictions. Well…it won. Convincingly so. Not only did it win – it picked successfully picked Michigan to win it all. We were dumfounded. This experiment, along with daily personal and business usage of AI has led me to some observations I want to share with you in these very early days of trying to figure out this new technology. This is somewhat dangerous for me, because as soon as this episode is recorded, it is already behind. We are in the early days of a revolution even more significant than the iPhone. I believe it is even more significant than the internet. My objective in today’s episode is just to give you some perspective from a fast follower of AI. It is not even scratching the surface – but it may give you a little better estimate of what AI can do and what it can’t do – at least not yet. And I will answer the question, “Can AI make decisions for you.” A few truths I’ve discovered that may help answer that question.

AI is more objective than humans.

Although certain AI models can have some bias, and although you can almost lead AI models to the answer you want to hear, they are still more objective than humans. And the more objective your prompts and questions are, the more objective your answers will be. How can you use this to help you in your decision making? Ask AI to outline the pros and cons of your decision. AI cannot make value judgements on its own. That is your job. On complex decisions, only you can decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. Now, if you want to tell your AI model what your values are, it can remind you of these values and attempt to identify which choice best aligns with those values. But everyone has different values. That’s one of the things that makes you distinctly you. It’s one of the things that makes you human. So…utilize AI to get an objective sense of the rewards and risks in a given decision and it can better equip you to make better decisions.

AI has more data to factor in than humans.

The amount of data AI models can access is simply astounding. It is better than any research assistant, better than any encyclopedia, better than Wikipedia. It has access to very nearly all of the knowledge currently known to man. We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to information, and AI has made that more accessible than ever.

AI can process data faster than humans.

There was a day in banking where you had physical ledgers and you added and subtracted numbers by hand. The calculator changed that – and later the personal computer. AI is not just the next phase; it is an entirely new era. It doesn’t just access the data, it processes it. It can back test. It can aggregate. It can summarize. It can contrast it. It can calculate it. It can estimate it. It is the tool of all tools. It is an information Swiss army knife on steroids. Now you might be thinking, “If it can process data faster than humans will it replace humans that currently do those jobs.” I would answer with a resounding “Yes.” But it will also create new jobs, some of which we can’t even envision yet. It will enhance productivity. Many professions will not disappear. But they will look drastically different as the people in those professions adapt to utilizing AI in their industry.

But what can AI not do? AI does not have wisdom. It can share principles of wisdom, but it cannot apply them. This is a uniquely human trait. Right now, AI is extraordinary. It has pattern recognition. It is second to none in rearranging words, images, ideas. But it is not yet truly original. It cannot create anything truly novel. And it is not yet able to apply knowledge in the form of wisdom. It can play probabilities, but there is no “gut” for AI. So, to answer my earlier question – AI does not need to make decisions for you. However, it is extremely valuable in informing you to make better decisions.

So how can you harness AI to make better decisions? For now, consider it a thought partner. Consider it to be an advisor, not on what you should do but on the things that you should be considering as you decide what to do. There is a difference there. AI cannot take into account the qualitative considerations of decision making. So don’t ask it to tell you what to do. Tell it to give you all the information it can so that you can be the decider. Combining the data of AI with a sanctified gut is a pretty amazing combination, in my opinion. That leads me back to our bracket competition. The reason it won is because it simply played the probabilities. It didn’t get all the games right. But it got more right than not, and it got the games that mattered, because it did not have a team it was rooting for. It simply analyzed the data objectively and spit out the most probable outcome. But life is not a bracket. There are not two outcomes we are choosing between – winning or losing. Life is a complex series of decisions informed by infinite unmeasurable factors that I believe can even have eternal implications. Let AI give you information as it rides shotgun – but don’t put it completely in the driver’s seat. At least not yet.

I talked about values earlier. If you happen to value partnership, if you happen to value creativity, if you happen to value getting a call back when you leave a message – you should really check us out at Foundation Bank. If your banking relationship has recently changed in ways that have negatively impacted you, we hope you will visit our website and start a chat or give us a call at any of our locations in McKenzie, Paris, Alamo, Jackson, Obion, or Paris Landing. We hope you’ll subscribe to this podcast to it in your favorite podcast app and share it on social media. Until our next episode, God bless you.

-President Chad P. Wilson, CFP

Today’s episode of “Money Matters” was written and recorded by President Chad P. Wilson of Foundation Bank/McKenzie Banking Company on June 2, 2026. This episode does not constitute financial advice. Please consult a financial professional to discuss your specific needs. Any rates mentioned are subject to change and are accurate as of the recording date. Foundation Bank/MBC is an Equal Housing Lender, Member FDIC.