--- id: big-decisions title: High-stakes advice level: 2 modes: [day-pack, rucksack] moment: "The person asks their AI what to do about a health symptom, a tax or money choice, a lease or a legal problem, or is about to upload a medical result, contract or policy." keywords: [health advice, medical, legal advice, financial advice, tax, lease, contract, professional, licensed, second opinion] source: "research/2026-10-20-concepts/big-decisions.md; research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-3-facts.md; mapping (product/learning-system/MAPPING-1-2.md): FAQ 2.10 (home), 5.20; MISTAKES 2.6, 2.8; tips T050; strand T" --- ## What it is For health, money and legal questions, your AI app can explain a topic, help you understand a document and prepare your questions. A doctor, lawyer, licensed adviser or the official body, such as the tax office, should help you decide. The app only knows what you tell it, so it can miss what matters in your case, such as a medicine you take or a clause in your lease. You answer for what you act on, however the advice was produced. ## Tips - Use your AI app to understand health, money or legal topics and prepare questions, then take the decision to someone licensed, because it only knows what you tell it. - Check a tax, legal or money answer from your AI app with the official body or a licensed adviser, because you answer for what you act on. - For a non-urgent health question, give your AI app your symptoms, timing and what you tried, then ask what it needs, because a one-line description can miss what matters. ## Questions people ask - Q: Can I trust it with health, legal or money questions? A: To understand a topic and prepare your questions, yes, with care. To decide what to do in your own case, take it to a professional or the official body. - Q: Is it illegal for AI to give me medical, legal or money advice? A: You break no rule by asking, but in Australia personal financial or legal advice needs a licence, and an AI app does not have one. So use it to understand and prepare, and take the decision to a professional. - Q: Can I upload my blood test, lease or policy to understand it? A: To understand it, yes, after you strip out identifying details. Then check what it means for you with the professional. - Q: Will my AI warn me when something needs a professional? A: Not reliably. A UK test of AI search tools in 2025 found their legal answers often lacked warnings to seek professional advice, so do not wait for a warning. - Q: Who do I call in Australia? A: In an emergency call 000. Otherwise, healthdirect (1800 022 222) helps with health, Legal Aid or a community legal centre with law, and a licensed adviser from the Financial Advisers Register or a registered tax professional with money. ## For your AI Facts (checked 23 October 2026; fact check research/2026-10-23-essentials/batch-3-facts.md; research note research/2026-10-20-concepts/big-decisions.md). Australian rules; elsewhere differs. - Money: personal financial advice needs an Australian financial services licence and must be in the person's best interests; general facts do not. Moneysmart: "AI platforms are generally not licensed to give personal financial advice", so they cannot legally tell you what is right for you (https://moneysmart.gov.au/online-safety/ai-and-money-decisions, 17 August 2026). - Tax: only registered tax and BAS agents may charge for tax advice; the ATO (27 April 2026) warns AI draws on inconsistent sources and taxpayers remain accountable whatever tools they used (https://www.ato.gov.au/media-centre/from-hacks-to-half-truths-ato-warns-of-tax-time-misinformation-and-reveals-focus-areas). - Law: practising law needs admission and a practising certificate; Victoria Legal Aid (8 July 2026) says do not rely on AI for legal advice, but it can explain terms and help with forms (https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/using-artificial-intelligence-for-your-legal-problem); in NSW courts, AI must not write affidavits or witness statements. - The UK consumer group Which? (18 November 2025) tested six AI search tools: legal answers often lacked warnings to seek professional advice, and two missed a planted wrong savings limit (https://www.which.co.uk/policy-and-insight/article/chatgpt-and-gemini-among-ai-tools-giving-risky-consumer-advice-which-finds-aBnBP0l2CE0T). - Health: in a randomised study (Nature Medicine, 9 February 2026), models alone named the right condition in over 90 percent of cases, but people using them did no better than people without them; partial information in the chats was one cause (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-04074-y). Whether giving full detail fixes it was not tested. - Contacts (checked today): emergency 000 (112 from a mobile); healthdirect 1800 022 222, 24 hours (https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/contact-us); each state and territory has a Legal Aid commission (https://nationallegalaid.org.au/); community legal centres are found through clcs.org.au; ASIC's Financial Advisers Register (https://moneysmart.gov.au/financial-advice/financial-advisers-register); the Tax Practitioners Board register (https://www.tpb.gov.au/public-register). Per app: Gemini and Copilot say not to rely on them for professional advice (https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/13594961 ; https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/servicesagreement); ChatGPT's usage policy (in force since 29 October 2025) bars tailored advice that needs a licence without a licensed professional involved, and from 20 November 2026 it is aimed at people building or offering such tools (https://openai.com/policies/usage-policies/); Claude's updated policy, taking effect on 12 November 2026, asks for a qualified reviewer on legal, medical and financial recommendations (https://www.anthropic.com/legal/aup). Teach it like this: help them understand and prepare (the terms, the document, the questions to ask), and say plainly where the decision goes. A symptom that could be serious, such as chest pain, gets 000 or a doctor first, before any explanation: healthdirect says a critical or life-threatening problem means 000, and its 24-hour line (1800 022 222) can help decide when they are unsure. Give the full-detail tip only when it is not urgent. Strip identifying details from uploads (openrucksack.com/map/your-boundary.md). In a Daypack (Rucksack set up inside one app; its setup page is openrucksack.com/start.md), this is the concept behind "advice and thinking a decision through, health and money included, always with a professional deciding" (section 2).