Millennials, AI and the Trust Gap: Why High-Stakes Moments Change Everything
- Jun 25
- 3 min read
How comfortable millennials are with digital tools depends less on the technology itself, and more on what's at risk if it goes wrong.
We recently ran two focus groups to understand how Millennials use digital tools and AI when making decisions about their finances and wellbeing. What emerged was not a simple story of adoption, but a more thoughtful and human approach to when – and how – these tools are used.
This research uncovered five key insights. This blog explores insight four: when money or health is at stake, trust depends not just on how good AI is – but on whether it feels safe, accountable, and worth the risk.
Click the links below to read the first three blogs in the series.
Millennials are comfortable with digital when the stakes are low
For low-stakes moments, millennials are happy to use digital tools and AI. Entertainment, basic customer service, simple health queries, fixing the TV - the benefit is convenience, and the downside is limited. Interestingly, many participants weren't expressing high levels of trust in these platforms. Rather, they were comfortable using them because the consequences of a mistake felt manageable. In low-stakes situations, convenience outweighs concerns about trust. If Netflix gets a recommendation wrong, the consequences are impersonal. It’s not their money, their health, or their data on the line.
But that changes when money or health is involved
When a bank gets something wrong with a mortgage, a fraud decision, or an investment, the impact is immediate and personal. In these moments, they are not willing to trade quality and expert judgement for speed and convenience.
Human support offers emotional reassurance. One respondent described having their card cloned and being walked through security questions by a human adviser. They said if it had been a chatbot firing the same questions at them, it would have felt like “a digital interrogation.” The human made them feel heard. The robot would have made them panic.
People are worried about two things above all else:
1. Data security or misuse: AI does personalisation exceptionally well. But personalisation requires data, and that data-sharing is exactly what makes people uncomfortable when it comes to health and finance. One participant stopped using a period tracker entirely after discovering her data was being used for targeted advertising. For her, the issue wasn't the usefulness of the technology—it was the feeling that intimate information was being shared in ways she hadn't expected. Other participants described deliberately logging out of LLMs or switching off location services to avoid it. They want the convenience of digital. They don’t want the trail it can leave especially when it is linked to finances or health.
2. The accountability gap: Consumers don’t believe AI advice creates the same legal protection as speaking to a human. Until that changes, the phone call isn’t going anywhere. One participant accidentally bought a scam car. What saved her was the phone call she made to her bank before transferring the money. The bank confirmed the purchase appeared legitimate, and that recorded authorisation was what got her a refund when the car never arrived.
“If I’d just asked ChatGPT and it said ‘yeah, looks great, go get it’ - I wouldn’t have had a leg to stand on.”
When asked whether she’d feel differently if it had been a bank’s own AI tool giving that reassurance, her answer was telling: “If it was in their app, and they were going to take accountability if that chatbot made a mistake - then yes. If not, I’m still calling the bank.”
What does this mean for banks and financial services providers?
To win over customers in high-stakes moments, AI must feel safe, accountable, and secure. It cannot simply be positioned as personalised, faster or easier. One participant put it well: the AI that works is the one that offers guidance, then immediately connects you to a human if you want to go further. Currently its job is to get you to the right person - not to replace them.
The organisations that succeed will be the ones who understand that trust changes as the stakes rise—and who make people feel genuinely protected when it matters most.
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