Earlier this month, a few of my colleagues from the Marketing Team had the opportunity to attend a seminar held by one of the area’s leading marketing agencies. They asked if I’d like to tag along, and of course I would have; however, unless it’s in the myCUmortgage headquarters (where the experts are used to seeing me) or on Halloween, my very presence can be somewhat of a distraction. Fortunately, my colleagues took copious notes and a “key takeaways” document from the agency.
The topic was Artificial Intelligence, or AI. As a result of most Earthlings’ intake of science fiction entertainment, you’re probably thinking that being an alien, I naturally have all my tentacles wrapped around the notion and capabilities of AI. You’d be wrong – on Amicitia and other neighboring planets of which I’m familiar, our level of AI usage is very comparable to your current knowledge of the technology.
When you mention AI to different people, you get very different perceptions and perspectives. Many are already embracing different forms of AI-driven technology. Some still have a lot of questions. Others are downright frightened of it – I attribute this to the aforementioned sci-fi entertainment. I always get a laugh from my marketing colleague who fears his job is going to be taken over by the Terminator!
To that, I point out a comment made during the seminar: “AI will not replace you; someone using AI will.” It was clear after reading through the information from the seminar that we shouldn’t be fearful of AI but rather embrace as the true technological tool that it is. Think about it: Does a carpenter fear that his hammer is going to take his job? Probably not. As marketers and mortgage lenders for credit unions, we shouldn’t be fearful either because in many respects, AI is the perfect tool for us, as it ultimately allows more time to work directly with our members.
I am already anticipating your responses to that: “Won’t our members be working with AI instead of us? We’re all about people helping people, not AI helping people.” To both comments, I respond, “Yes and No.”
Sure, member-facing AI technology will continue to have a place in the mortgage loan process. Honestly, non-AI technology has played that role for years. With the incorporation of AI, it not only improves the existing technology, but it makes member interactions much more personable, providing for great member experiences.
During the seminar, attendees took part in a live interactive poll. One of the questions asked was if they had a magic wand, what business challenges would they use AI to help solve. The resounding number one answer was Simplified Customer Experiences. By consolidating tools, streamlining processes and enabling more “self-serve” options with online mortgage applications, for example, the customer experience is greatly enhanced. This sets the stage for more informed and detailed conversations with your members during those most important next steps.
Those processes are equally improved on the credit union side and, more specifically, for the loan originator. Let’s look at it as Thinking versus Thunking.
This concept was coined by Google’s former Chief Decision Scientist, Cassie Kozyrkov. Thinking is where you’re using your mind to process information, form concepts and make decisions. As pointed out during the seminar, AI can support thinking by enabling us to tap into new aspects of the subject at hand. On the flip side, Thunking represents repetitive tasks and items that could be done on autopilot. By using AI to “thunk,” we can find more free time to do things like… oh, I don’t know… interact with and reach out to your members.
According to Mike Kaput of the Marketing AI Institute, in ideal use cases, you could save 90% of your time typically spent on core tasks and 75 fewer monthly hours on one workflow, leading to hundreds of available hours that can be reinvested in those all-important member interactions and communications. So where do we sign up, right?
Let’s look at it metaphorically in real estate and mortgage terms: How do you build a house? One brick at a time. In other words, to accomplish a large task, the best way to do it is taking one small step after another. Embracing and implementing Artificial Intelligence into your credit union and work processes isn’t something that can be done in a single lunar cycle, especially if it’s to be done right.
What we need to remember is that AI is totally reliant on humans to teach it and provide input so that the system can learn and assist you more effectively. We shape the tool, and doing so takes time, especially with the technology and its capabilities continually changing and improving.
AI is such a huge and important topic – what I’ve provided here is just a morsel of the subject at hand, and I can guarantee that I’ll be addressing more and more on the topic in future posts. Until then, I encourage all of you to start researching and learning more about Artificial Intelligence and its applications within the credit union mortgage industry.
Even more importantly, start the conversations within your organization and with your mortgage partners – we have a great opportunity in front of us with AI. Together, we can harness it and optimize our efforts of getting more members into homes. No Terminator needed.
Insights courtesy Fahlgren Mortine’s B2B Peer Summit 24.