A transformation may be on the way – but humans aren’t set to be replaced, says executive
Artificial intelligence (AI) will have a profound effect on the mortgage industry – but the value of human input in the mortgage process is something that won’t fade, according to a leading industry executive.
Jamie David (pictured), head of marketing and senior director of mortgages at RateHub.ca, told Canadian Mortgage Professional that while she saw huge potential for the power of AI in the mortgage space, it was unlikely to remove the need for human involvement entirely.
“Mortgages can be quite a complicated subject. It’s a really serious financial product. And what we’ve seen and believe is that applying for a mortgage will always require a level of human touch- and over the years, this amount of human touch has fluctuated,” she said. “As COVID happened, of course, in-person became nearly impossible at certain points when we locked down.
“And so I don’t believe that Canadians are ready to close a mortgage without communicating with another human at all. So I don’t really believe that AI will be able to reduce the need for the human touch to zero in the mortgage journey.”
David will be chairing a panel at the upcoming Women in Mortgage Summit Canada at the Carlu Toronto discussing AI and how it’s likely to impact the mortgage space.
Human involvement will remain important in the mortgage journey, but that’s not to say that AI can’t be leveraged in other ways for the betterment of the industry, according to David.
What will be the best uses of AI in the mortgage space?
Although the benefits of generative AI have been much discussed, she views AI at its core as a “super-powerful” tool for data aggregation and analysis – one of the best ways it can be utilized in a business context.
“In the mortgage industry, this would translate to things like surveying the marketplace to see what people are looking for, questions that people have,” she said, “and then trying to find data patterns to determine different types of market segments and how to reach them and what their intent is.
“So I think those things are where AI can be best leveraged. But the one thing I want to point out is that no matter how we use AI in different industries, I do believe that it’s super-important to always include a final check by humans. No matter what AI produces, even if AI is 99% accurate, there’s still always a 1% chance of error. So we always need to include this final stage of a human checkpoint.”
Women in Mortgage Summit returning to Toronto on June 5
The Women in Mortgage Summit, set to take place on June 5, will see women from the industry gather for a full-day networking and educational event aimed at helping attendees make new connections, navigate industry challenges and find inspiration to push their careers forward.
On her most valuable lessons learned as a woman in the mortgage industry, David said maintaining a laser focus on key priorities and the most important aspects of the job have proven a crucial way of forging success.
Expand your network and meet fellow delegates in a short and snappy structured networking session at the 2024 Women in Mortgage Summit Canada!
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“I think one of the most important things is to always just focus on the fundamentals,” she said. “A lot of times, people focus on innovation and iteration, and they lose sights of the strengths of what their companies create.”
David spoke to CMP as an advocate for advancing women in the mortgage industry and ensuring as equitable a space as possible.
“Women can accomplish as much as men in mortgages,” she said. “It’s really important for women in the industry today to trailblaze and set great examples for the younger generation.
“I believe education and visibility are really important because the younger generation of women can see that the mortgage industry actually embraces women, treats them equally, and provides us with fantastic opportunities – especially in leadership. That’s how they’ll be drawn to it, because they know that they’ll be able to thrive in it.”
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