We’ve all heard about the incredible possibilities of generative AI. But now we have to wade through a parade of terrible AI products, as companies stuff still-experimental AI into everyday things. For consumers, it’s on us to figure out how to size up each new AI we encounter.

The good news is that you can completely ignore the chatbots and still do your taxes. My experience shows we should be especially wary of generative AI when there are real-life consequences to it being wrong. And we can’t necessarily trust companies experimenting with AI to make the right decisions to protect our interests.

I tested the AI from TurboTax and H&R Block with the assistance of two real, live tax pros I recruited from EP Wealth Advisors, an independent wealth management firm. TurboTax’s self-help AI, which you access by clicking on the question mark in a circle in the top right corner of the screen, flubbed more than half of the 16 test questions Iasked. Most often, it gave wildly irrelevant responses. After I shared my results with TurboTax maker Intuit, the company changed some of how the bot picks its answers. But its new version of Intuit Assist was still unhelpful on a quarter of the questions.

…The companies appear to have a different bar than I do for what’s responsible. They think it’s okay to give some people bad answers so long assome people get good ones and the system continues to improve.In other words, we’re their guinea pigs.

Read more:

Fowler, G. A. (2024, March 4). TurboTax and H&R Block now use AI for tax advice. It’s awful. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/04/ai-taxes-turbotax-hrblock-chatbot/