The rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in finance is disrupting the investment advice landscape, yet little is known about how investors perceive and respond to advice from AI versus human advisors. This study examines whether the source of advice (human vs. AI) influences investors’ trust in the advice, their reliance on it, and their subsequent portfolio choices. By employing a randomized experimental design, this study asks participants to evaluate equivalent investment recommendations generated by either a professional human financial advisor or an AI-based financial advisory system. The experiment manipulates the perceived source of advice and measures participants’ trust, perceived competence, transparency, adherence to the recommendation, and portfolio allocation decisions. The study also explores whether financial literacy, investment experience, risk tolerance, and familiarity with AI moderate the observed effects. This study contributes to the literature on behavioral finance, fintech, and algorithmic decision-making by isolating the role of advice source on investor behavior and offering insights into the design of trustworthy and effective AI-assisted financial advisory systems.