How We Use AI

WillStreet exists at the intersection of AI and Canadian personal finance. We use AI tools to work faster and think more clearly — but we don’t outsource our judgment to them, and we don’t publish anything that hasn’t read, edited, and signed off on by the creator personally.

Here’s exactly how AI shows up in our work:

Research and Data

We use AI tools — primarily Perplexity — to surface current Canadian financial statistics, verify Bank of Canada rate data, and cross-reference regulatory information from sources like FCAC, OSFI, and Statistics Canada. Every stat that appears in a WillStreet article is traced back to a primary Canadian source before publication.

Writing and Drafting

AI assists with early drafts, structure, and clarity. We use Claude as our primary writing and strategy tool. But every article goes through a human editing pass before it goes live — specifically for the sections that require real institutional knowledge: the “How the System Actually Works” sidebar, the Real Canadian Scenario, and the final recommendations. Those sections cannot be written by AI alone. They draw on six years (and counting) of back-office banking experience that no language model has.

Tools and Calculators

Some of our interactive tools — including the Debt Destroyer Calculator — use algorithms to model debt payoff timelines, interest projections, and payoff scenarios. These models are built on publicly available Canadian rate data (including live Bank of Canada prime rate integration) and tested against real-world scenarios. They are designed to give you directional clarity, not financial advice.

What AI Does Not Do at WillStreet

  • It does not give personalized legal, tax, or investment advice.
  • It does not decide which products win in our reviews. The WillStreet Score is calculated from five weighted dimensions — AI helps gather data, but the editorial judgment is human.
  • It does not publish anything without a human reading and editing it first.
  • It does not write the “How the System Actually Works” section. That’s ours.

Our Commitment

If we ever change how we use AI in a meaningful way, we’ll update this page with clear details and a new date. AI technology evolves fast. Our transparency about it will keep up.

For more on how we maintain accuracy and handle corrections, see our Responsible Content Standard.