In an industry which has been built on expertise, trust and relationships, financial advisers of all types have sourced tailored solutions for their clients. In the current day though, there is potentially a threat coming for the role a broker plays - artificial intelligence (AI). Most adults have now had at least a little play around with AI and asked it some complex questions, so how far beyond the realms of possibility is it that clients will now look to their new and shiny, instantly answering buddy to be able to solve their complex financing needs?
AI strengths
Artificial intelligence is unarguably more organised and quicker at solving complex equations than humans, this cannot be argued. AI can browse its pre-programmed knowledge as well as searching the entire internet in a matter of seconds to find a correct answer, it can write you code and it can create you a custom application in no time to create exactly what you tell it to create.
AI has already begun to be introduced into the financial services industry; you can already check lenders' criteria and have AI suggest products which are suitable for you and also products which you do not qualify for.
Whilst this all sounds perfect and very exact, is there such a thing as ‘too exact’? Let’s look at the traditional role of a broker and some of their strengths to consider.
Broker strengths
As stated above, the financial services industry has been built on expertise, trust and relationships. Whilst some clients may not yearn for the relationship aspect of using a broker and they may be purely interested in getting the best deal, the broker still wins in my opinion.
Without sounding too cliché, if clients began to use artificial intelligence to source their financial products, they would end up with a 'computer says no' answer to a lot more scenarios than going through a broker. AI is intelligent enough to find you the product which fits, but it is also intelligent enough to rule out the products which don’t.
A great broker, if they are representing their clients correctly, will not work with a 'machine says no' mentality. The broker should present their deals to a lender in a way which makes the lender want to lend money, rather than just finding the computerised solution which accepts a no on the first try.
A great broker uses their long term (human) relationships with lenders to get cases which are slightly outside of policy accepted, this is something which artificial intelligence will never be able to replicate. At the core of being a broker, you are a salesperson with sales skills. As much as its fun to tell ChatGPT to calculate how many oranges you could fit inside of a Mini Cooper and answer you in the tone of Donald Trump, it will never truly be a human. AI can have a conversation with you, but deep down how many lenders do you think will be ‘sold’ a deal by AI?
Conclusion
We are in a time where it’s natural to feel threatened by technology, but hasn’t this been the case for years? Factory workers were going to be made obsolete by the invention of machines which could mass produce products, this just led to a premium being placed on handmade goods and jobs were created to look after the machines.
Whilst it isn’t as easy to see the beauty in financial services compared to looking at a handmade crystal bracelet, it’s still in there. The human element of being human will never be able to be replicated, and AI will never be able to understand a human’s tone the way a human can.
As brokers, we should embrace what AI can do for us - let it create us some email templates, let it code us some workflows or reminder apps to keep us on schedule. We should, however, always remember that AI can never truly replicate you, and ‘you’ is what your clients need.
This article was not written by AI.
