Should mortgage advisors exploit AI technology?

March 24, 2023 by Brendan O'Neill

Mortgage Advisors

One of the developments in technology that is attracting a lot of media attention is artificial intelligence (AI). While it is something that many industries are already adopting, should the mortgage advice sector be among them?

Recently, ONP Group revealed that it is integrating with ChatGPT, one of the most well-known AI innovations of recent times. This will mean the process of analysing customer documents during remortgage and conveyancing work is now automated. However, the wider response from mortgage advisors has been mixed.

One point that some are making is that relying too much on AI tools and automation can potentially lead to errors during more complex parts of the application process. The consequences of that for both individual advisors and networks that they work with could be financial penalties imposed by industry regulators.

Then there is the simple reality exposed by the pandemic that most customers prefer to deal with an actual human being who has the CeMAP mortgage advisor qualifications needed to be able to provide high-quality guidance. That is just not something that even the most sophisticated AI solution can seriously replicate.

It may be that there is room for the use of solutions like ChatGPT during the early stages of the process, though. It may save advisors having to wait on the live chat service of a lender, freeing them up for more important work. Other routine tasks like verifying the ID of clients could also potentially be outsourced to AI, so it does have possibilities as a way of saving valuable time.