Google’s AI Mode can now create interactive charts when users ask questions about stocks and mutual funds, the company said in a blog post Thursday. For example, users might ask the site to compare five years of stock performances for the biggest tech companies or request to see mutual funds with the best rates of return over the past decade. Gemini, Google’s AI engine, will then create an interactive graph and a comprehensive explanation.
I created a sample by going to the webpage for the new experiment (if you try it at work, you might learn that your admin has banned it, but it should work on a personal computer). Once there, I told it exactly what I wanted, “make me an interactive chart showing MSFT stock over the past five years.” It produced the chart, and I was able to move the slider from one date to another, showing the stock price on that date.
It’s the same kind of chart you can probably get at your financial advisor’s site, but it did work.
Tell Google AI what chart you want, and it will create one that you can interact with.
But be warned: AI has accuracy issues, and users need to be extra careful with financial information of any kind.
“AI has historically struggled with quantitative reasoning tasks,” said Sam Taube, lead investing writer at personal finance company NerdWallet. “It looks like Google’s AI mode will often provide links to its data sources when answering financial queries. It’s probably worth clicking those links to make sure that the raw data does, in fact, match the AI’s output. If there’s no link to a data source, proceed with caution; consider manually double-checking any numbers in the AI’s output. I wouldn’t trust any AI model to do its own math yet.”
A Google spokesperson acknowledged that errors can and do occur from AI delivery, but that Google tries to rectify the situation.
“Data for this feature is provided by financial exchanges and other third-party providers, and sometimes errors can occur. When we identify or are alerted to an inaccuracy in the data, we work with our third-party providers to quickly resolve the issue,” the spokesperson said.
The feature is a new experiment from Google Labs. At its I/O conference last month, Google announced AI Mode’s ability to create interactive graphics for complex sets of data. The feature is now only for queries about stocks and mutual funds, but it will be expanded to other topics such as sports.
“I’d avoid asking AI any ‘should I invest in XYZ?’ type questions,” Taube told CNET. “The top AI models may be smart, but they aren’t credentialed financial advisors and probably don’t know enough about your personal financial situation to give good advice. What’s more, AI doesn’t have a great track record at picking investments, at least so far. Many AI-powered ETFs (funds that use AI to pick stocks to invest in) are underperforming the S&P 500 this year.”
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