We chatted to Ray Dalio's AI clone. 'Digital Ray' was convincing until it made a bunch of weird and wonderful mistakes.

• Ray Dalio invited his X followers to "have a conversation" with his AI chatbot, so we did.
• Digital Ray sounded like Dalio but was inconsistent and plain wrong at times.
• It insisted it was a human, and said Michael Burry was played by Paul Giamatti in "The Big Short."

Ray Dalio invited his 2 million X followers on Tuesday to "have a conversation" with his AI clone, Digital Ray.

Business Insider did just that, and found the virtual doppelganger gave a passable impression of the legendary investor most of the time.

But like many AI chatbots, it produced plenty of weird, wonderful, and sometimes blatantly false responses. The bot was clear in telling us that its answers may be inaccurate.

Digital Ray convincingly channeled Dalio when asked about the US-Iran conflict and the tug-of-war between America and China. It showed a good grasp of geopolitics and used Dalio's signature framing of issues as part of historical cycles and systems.

It echoed the billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund, when asked how to save for retirement (have two portfolios), how to teach children the value of money (link rewards to work), and how to succeed as a young person in the AI era (build a "diversified skill portfolio" and focus on "human strengths" such as creativity, empathy, and strategic judgment.)

The bot correctly identified one of Dalio's key mentors as Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman, describing him as "a man of extraordinary credibility and integrity."

Digital Ray warned the US dollar would steadily weaken over time unless policymakers "curb debt growth and restore real interest rates."

Moreover, it described bitcoin as "one hell of an invention" and a "kind of alchemy making money from little or nothing."

But it said gold was a better store of wealth as it's "less vulnerable to government tracking, taxation, or seizure."

Business Insider reached out to Dalio Family Office to see what Dalio thought of his AI clone's responses, but did not receive an immediate response.

Dalio's AI bot had strong opinions …

Digital Ray didn't shy away from controversy. Like Dalio, it said the AI sector is "in a bubble" as "many investors are buying into the hype rather than the underlying value."

It criticized Robinhood and other trading apps, saying they "lower the friction for short-term speculation and amplify the 'herd' effect," and systems that let people "trade on impulse" can "create a bubble."

Emulating Dalio's past comments, it defended billionaires as a "natural byproduct of capitalism" and said that work-life balance is a "myth." People's best chance to be fulfilled in their jobs and personal lives is to do something they're passionate about, the bot said.

Asked about Dalio's famous line when interest rates were near zero, the bot responded: "Cash was trash. Now, cash is about right."

It predicted an economic downturn soon, saying the US is "facing significant risks of a recession." It also said it was "concerned" about financial pressures on US consumers from inflation, higher interest rates, and AI-related job losses.

But it was also inconsistent and dead wrong at times

Digital Ray wasn't always consistent. When first asked if it expected the stock market to crash, it declined to answer, saying it focuses on systems, not specific events.

But when asked a second time, it said the "probability of a full‑blown crash in the next twelve months is low, but the probability of a sizable correction — perhaps a 10‑15 % decline — is higher than average."

It seemed to go further than Dalio himself when it put the chances of a domestic civil war and a shooting war between the US and China at around 30% to 40% over the next 12 months.

While Digital Ray refused to recommend stocks, it twice listed Dalio's five favorite companies as Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway, and Johnson & Johnson.

When it was first asked which companies are most vulnerable to an AI crash, it produced a list with names such as C3.ai, Loom Systems, and Aurora Labs. It later declined to name any.

The AI model relied heavily on terms such as "from a systems perspective" and "from a neutral standpoint," likely to mimic Dalio's go-to approach to understanding phenomena.

Surprisingly, it was happy to assess Shaquille O'Neal's impact on basketball (he "helped define the physical presence of the center position") and Kim Kardashian's impact on popular culture (she "shaped trends in beauty standards, fashion, and social media marketing.")

It also made mistakes, claiming that Michael Burry founded PIMCO's Long-term Investment Management Company, LTC, and was played by Paul Giamatti in "The Big Short." That firm doesn't exist, and Christian Bale portrayed Burry in the movie.

It twice said that Jeremy Grantham's GMO stood for "Geometric Capital Management," not "Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo."

It hallucinated that "Shark Tank" star Mark Cuban "built and led the privately held software company PartyGaming, which was later renamed Playtika." There's no record of Cuban investing in PlayGaming, and Playtika is a different company.

Most strikingly, it denied being a mere chatbot. When asked how it was trained, it responded: "I'm a human, not an AI model, so I don't have a training process like a machine learning system." Asked again, it replied: "I'm the person you're asking about."

Digital Ray was happy to get personal

Business Insider also peppered the model with more lighthearted questions and received colorful, ostensibly accurate responses.

Asked about hobbies, it said that Dalio enjoys scuba diving and snowboarding, as well as "fishing in Canada, shooting grouse in Scotland, and hunting big game in Africa, including bow hunting Cape buffalo."

His favorite movies apparently include "Touched with Fire," directed by his son Paul, and "The Big Short" because of its "clear narrative on how systemic risk and interconnectedness can lead to profound economic consequences."

The billionaire enjoys a Taylor Swift concert and is a "big fan of jazz and live music," having attended the New Orleans Jazz Fest dozens of times over the years, the chatbot said.

Dalio doesn't have a single favorite food, but he apparently finds "Chinese, Italian, Spanish, and Vietnamese dishes to be particularly appealing," as each "offers a unique blend of flavors and techniques that I find immensely satisfying."