AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can sound confident — even when they’re wrong. One time, ChatGPT told me July 1, 2025 was a Monday (it was actually a Tuesday). These so-called “hallucinations” can be far more subtle in finance, from misquoting accounting rules to fabricating data. For CFOs, the takeaway is clear: AI outputs are a useful draft — but they always require verification.

A real-world EASY test of AI tools for gathering public company financials reveals major accuracy issues. Perplexity and Gemini both failed to produce reliable data, while ChatGPT performed best. A cautionary look at how generative AI handles earnings reports and SEC filings.