Can ChatGPT pass the CFA exams?

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We all know that, sooner or later, something like this will happen. If you’re not familiar with the CFA exams, they are a gruelling set of three exams undertaken in the finance industry to achieve the prestigious designation of CFA Charterholder. The pass rate for Level 1 when I sat it back in 2009 was just 40 percent.

So, what if you managed to smuggle ChatGPT into one of these exams? Would you pass? Well, that is exactly what a recent study set out to determine. It tested how well AI language models like ChatGPT performed on the CFA exam. The study found that GPT-4 could pass Level 1 but narrowly failed Level 2, while GPT-3.5 failed both levels.

The researchers used different question formats to test the AI model. They noted that even if AI could pass these exams, it doesn't mean it would make a good financial analyst in the real world.

Actual financial analysis involves dealing with ambiguous information and complex market situations that aren't captured in standardised tests. Being a successful analyst requires more than just passing exams – it also necessitates practical skills and the ability to interpret changing market conditions. For now, it seems that the point of singularity hasn’t quite been reached.

Source: Sparkline Capital

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