Life insurers have made a renewed push for progress on the federal government’s plan for a new class of adviser to offer “simple” advice.

At present, life insurers are permitted to give general advice only, but the government has said it will revise the regulations.

The industry says without changes, more Australians will turn to AI programs such as ChatGPT to make financial decisions.

“This isn’t just asking AI to draft an email or fix some grammar,” Council of Australian Life Insurers CEO Christine Cupitt said. “This is real life. We can’t leave Australians with no other option but to put their financial future in the hands of an AI chatbot.”

Three in five people say they would trust financial advice received from AI-powered programs, according to the council’s research.

Almost 20% of people received life insurance advice from platforms such as ChatGPT in the past quarter.

“Without the right kind of advice from the right people, Australians are at greater risk of falling victim to scams and dodgy providers,” Ms Cupitt said.