ChatGPT can’t eat pork:“I had a huge fight with my partner. How do I make myself feel better?” From relationship rants to work meltdowns, fixing awkward emails to sorting out to-do lists, AI is creeping into every corner of our lives. Always ready with a response.
But can it really be your personal financial guide?
AI, as it stands today, doesn’t think critically. It doesn’t say, “Hold on, that may not work for you.” It mostly just agrees. Whatever prompt you feed, it nods, types, and replies like a polite guest trying not to offend. And for all its speed, AI gives you similar responses no matter who you are, or where you are. Dimapur, Delhi, or Denmark, it doesn’t know your story, your struggles, your dreams.
Use AI, sure. It’s a powerful, cutting-edge tool. Just not yet, for something as personal as your money.
Most AI is still built on Western ways of thinking. Where financial priorities, family structures, and social systems look nothing like ours.
Where saving is individualistic. Where social safety nets exist. Where values around money, community, and responsibility don’t mirror how we live.
But here?
We lend money to cousins. Pitch in for church. Budget for Christmas meat and gifts. We deal with piggery losses, crops failing, medical bills without insurance, or suddenly having to fund a sibling’s education.
AI doesn’t see that. Because it wasn’t built to. It can calculate, but it can’t relate.
It doesn’t understand hesitation, sacrifice, or the quiet stress of saving for someone else.
It can suggest how to marinate pork belly. But if it can’t taste the pork, what does it know about the cost of craving it?
That’s emotional intelligence. That’s behavioural insight. And AI can’t do that, yet.
AI can crunch numbers. But it can’t hold your hand through fear. Or talk you out of a bad decision. Or say, “Hey, I’ve been there too.”
That’s why platforms like Moneybar exist, where real people talk, ask questions, and share what actually works for them. Just download the app on AppStore or PlayStore, sign up, and request to join.
Because sometimes, the best financial help doesn’t come from algorithms. It comes from stories, mistakes, a little lived experience and asking questions like, “Puisa kotha hunibo?” See you next Wednesday…unless AI replaces me by then!
Paweii Kayina
Founder & CEO,
Moneybar
Wednesday, August 6, 2025