About half of consumers are OK with AI having the final say on their mortgage application

Lower survey finds increasing comfort levels with AI in mortgage lending

About half of consumers are OK with AI having the final say on their mortgage application

Lower survey finds increasing comfort levels with AI in mortgage lending

Consumers appear comfortable with artificial intelligence helping them with various aspects of the homebuying process, according to a survey from Lower, a mortgage lender and financial technology company.

Lower surveyed 1,000 consumers across the U.S. about their attitudes toward the use of AI in the homebuying process. The company found that 76.8% of respondents were comfortable with AI being involved with comparing mortgage rates and loan options, while nearly three-quarters were amenable to AI answering general mortgage questions.

Nearly 72% of respondents were fine with AI recommending a specific type of mortgage, and almost 71% were receptive to AI estimating how much home they could afford.

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Just under half (49.2%) of those surveyed were OK with AI approving or denying a mortgage application. Still, the results show that a high percentage of consumers who have used AI before have developed a comfort level with the technology and are willing to let it be part of the mortgage application process.

This level of comfort means that AI is likely to play a greater role in the mortgage process moving forward, Lower writes. For homebuyers, that may mean more ways to get information and more quickly move through the homebuying process.

Lower found that 72.1% of consumers who have used AI to answer mortgage or loan questions are comfortable with having the technology approve or deny a mortgage application. But only 41% of consumers who haven’t used AI for any part of the mortgage process were OK with it making the final decision.

“Once AI has answered the question and saved someone real time, they’ll trust it with more,” said Lower executive Gino Fronti in a press release. “People have seen it work.”

Despite consumers being accepting of the technology, the survey did find that many still favor people being in charge of the mortgage process. When asked what role AI should play overall in the mortgage process, 38% said AI should be allowed to make recommendations, but a human should make the final decision. Another 18.8% are comfortable with AI making a few independent decisions “as long as major decisions still receive human review.”

Just 5.2% were happy with AI making most mortgage decisions with no oversight. Another 4.3% would let AI handle the entire mortgage process with no human involvement.

Where consumers really prefer human involvement is when there is a problem with securing a mortgage. When it came to snafus that could delay or prevent a home acquisition from closing, 54.4% wanted to deal with human loan officer. Another 28.4% wanted a human loan officer and AI working together. Only 7% preferred AI working alone.

All told, nearly 83% of those surveyed wanted a human loan officer involved when there is an unexpected problem.

“Technology is taking the paperwork off our plate, not the relationship,” added Fronti, who serves as vice president of product for LOAI, Lower’s AI-powered productivity suite for loan officers. “It frees a loan officer up to do the part that actually takes judgment, which is advising.”

Author

  • Jeff Bond is a contributing writer for Scotsman Guide and a former editor of the publication’s magazine.

    View all posts

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