Revolutionizing retirement: How AI-powered visuals change retirement goal clarity and risk tolerance?

Purpose: This innovative study aims to combine an AI-based cognitive intervention known as AI painting with a traditional behavioral approach to retirement financial planning, specifically through personalized pension projection (PPP). This integration is intended to address the design limitations inherent in the traditional method.
Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate the effectiveness of AI painting, a randomized control trial was conducted, focusing on its impact on retirement goal clarity and risk tolerance among a sample of Chinese working adults. Participants were divided into two groups: the experimental group received both the PPP and AI painting interventions, while the control group was given only the PPP intervention.
Findings: The results indicated that AI painting significantly enhanced risk tolerance, although it unexpectedly led to a reduction in retirement goal clarity. Interestingly, the study also found that AI painting facilitated the transformation of retirement goal clarity into increased risk tolerance.
Research limitations/implications: These findings carry important theoretical implications for the development of the capacity-willingness-opportunity model in retirement financial planning. It deepens our understanding of the CWO model by identifying a conditional effect of retirement goal clarity on risk tolerance, a relationship that has not been previously modeled. It also expands the CWO model by proposing and testing additional pathways from new interventions to critical psychological constructs within the framework.
Practical implications: The promising results encourage business banks to incorporate AI painting into their counseling practices, enabling them to capitalize on the rapid advancements in text-to-visual AI technologies to enhance their marketing strategies.
Originality/value: To our knowledge, we are the first team in the world to integrate AI painting into retirement financial planning. As advancements in text-to-painting technology continue to progress rapidly, the value of this study will increase accordingly, as it sets a foundation and inspires further research in this area. Copyright © 2025 Emerald Publishing Limited.