Robo-advisors actually increased the number of human financial advisors hired by firms instead of replacing them.
April 29, 2026
Original Paper
Automation and High-Skill Labor Markets: Evidence from Robo-Advisors
SSRN · 6660378
The Takeaway
Automated wealth management tools expanded the total market for financial services by making them cheaper and more accessible. Common wisdom suggests that high-skill AI tools will inevitably automate human professionals out of their jobs. The introduction of these algorithms lowered the barrier for new clients who then sought out human experts for complex emotional or strategic guidance. This pattern proves that automation can act as a catalyst for professional employment rather than a threat. High-skill workers may find themselves busier than ever as machines handle the routine tasks and bring in more customers.
From the abstract
Does artificial intelligence substitute or complement high-skill labor? We study financial robo-advisors and their impact on the labor market for human advisors. Using novel data on robo-advisors and advisor employment, we find that robo-advisors increase, rather than reduce, human advisor employment. To address endogenous adoption, we exploit cross-state regulatory entry costs interacted with a national financing shock affecting technology firms. States experiencing greater robo-advisor entry e