The Intermediary – June 2025 - Flipbook - Page 84
T E C H N O L O GY
Opinion
Will robots inherit
the Earth?
“W
ill robots
inherit
the Earth?
Yes, but
they will
be our
children.” It’s a quote that invites both
awe and unease.
Marvin Minsky, one of the
founding fathers of artificial
intelligence (AI), believed not just in
the rise of intelligent machines, but in
their deep roots within us – creations
shaped by human ingenuity, purpose,
and values.
That view is especially relevant as
AI begins to transform the mortgage
and property sector.
There’s plenty of talk about
disruption in the industry. Faster
systems, automated decisions,
smarter underwriting. Disruptions
that understandably feel like a threat
to some brokers.
But at its core, AI is not here to
replace human input in financial
services, it’s here to extend it.
From a broker perspective, will AI
improve the industry, or turn us all
into emotionless robots ticking boxes?
If we get this right, brokers won’t just
survive the AI revolution. They’ll
thrive within it.
AI is already doing useful work
across the mortgage market. Optical
character recognition can scan
payslips in seconds.
Natural language processing
(NLP) chatbots can answer first-time
buyer questions at 10pm. Machine
learning models can flag early signs of
financial distress.
These tools are making the process
faster, yes, but also smarter.
In the years ahead, we can expect AI
to personalise mortgage offers based
on borrower data, adapt affordability
assessments accordingly, and offer
‘real-time underwriting’ based on
evolving circumstances like income
fluctuations, cost-of-living changes,
or even Open Banking activity.
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The Intermediary | June 2025
But the goal isn’t to eliminate
human brokers from the picture.
Doomed to obscurity
The risk in all of this isn’t the
technology, it’s the obscurity. As
algorithms take a greater role in
shaping lending outcomes, clients
may find themselves facing decisions
they don’t understand, driven by
factors they weren’t aware of.
Was it their spending habits? A
missed subscription payment? A
short work history? Brokers will be
essential as interpreters of AI-led
decisions, translating the ‘black box’
into clear reasoning, challenging
it when necessary, and advocating
for clients whose stories don’t fit the
algorithm’s neatest paerns. This shi
reframes the broker’s value.
There’s another side to this, too.
AI isn’t just reshaping how brokers
deliver advice; it’s changing how they
find and grow their client base.
With the right systems, brokers can
now use AI-driven analytics to:
Identify homeowners whose fixedrate deals are ending soon;
Segment databases to find highvalue remortgage opportunities;
Automate outbound communication
with tailored, timely messaging;
Optimise digital marketing with
predictive lead scoring;
Monitor online behaviours to time
engagement perfectly.
This means less cold-calling and more
precision. Less blanket marketing
and more intelligent, datainformed outreach.
This is something that we at
Oportfolio are really passionate
about. Brokers using AI effectively
can scale their operations, maintain
closer client relationships, and build
a business that responds to market
changes in real time. The tools of the
tech giants are no longer out of reach,
they’re increasingly baked into the
platforms brokers already use.
LOUIS MASON
is marketing and
communications director
at Oportfolio
Picture the near future: a client
logs into a digital portal, shares
their income and property data, and
is presented with a few tailored
mortgage offers, instantly calculated
using real-time affordability models.
Behind the scenes, AI cross-references
hundreds of criteria in seconds. So
far, so seamless. But the client has
questions. They’re self-employed with
variable income. They’re worried
about upcoming maternity leave.
They’ve got two different income
sources in different currencies.
That’s when the broker steps in,
equipped with full visibility, aided
by tech, and able to offer not just a
product, but true, contextual advice.
AI helps with the logic. Brokers
handle the reality.
AI is not an outside force disrupting
our sector, it’s a tool we’ve built, and
that we continue to shape. Like
Minsky’s ‘children’, these technologies
carry our intentions, our assumptions,
and critically, our responsibility.
The challenge for brokers is to
embrace these tools and look aer
the children without losing sight of
their human value. To lead with trust,
not just tech. To combine the speed
and scalability of machines with the
wisdom and empathy only people
can provide.
In that future, brokers don’t just
coexist with AI. They lead the way
forward. Avoiding it will leave you
trailing behind in an industry that
doesn’t wait. ●
