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Artificial intelligence - good or evil?

Journalist: Carmen Reichman, FTAdviser

ended 24. July 2024

Dear advisers

What is your view on using AI in your business? 

Research shows only very few advice firms are using AI, yet a quarter think it could have a positive impact on their firm.

Almost a quarter also think AI will have a negative impact on the advice industry as a whole though…

What do you think?

If you're using it, could you explain how and what impact it's having? For instance, do you use a transcriber in your meetings, or are you interested in Xplan's PlannerPal?

If not, why not? Can you see yourself use it in future? For any particular tasks?

Please let us know! It's for a story in FT Adviser.

Many thanks

Carmen

carmen.reichman@ft.com

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Ben Perks
Managing Director at Orchard Financial Advisers
I'm not a fan. I'm old fashioned; I dont understand it, I dont like it and I dont trust it. That said, as with all 'tech', there will come a time that I have to embrace the change or get left behind.
My worry is that AI will miss the soft facts and leave you vulnerable. I can appreciate the convinience and cost effectiveness of using AI, but when a file is reviewed by the Financial Conduct Authority they like to see the additional notes and personal touches to support recommendations.
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Stephen Perkins
Managing Director at Yellow Brick Mortgages
AI can be either good or bad, it depends on how it is used and by whom. Given the current accuracy of AI, basing your life decisions on it's advice would be dangerous. However AI can be used in so many ways to make the sales process more streamlined and efficient for borrowers and advisers alike. This is where I see the future of AI within financial services, doing the heavy lifting for human advisers to provide a better service.
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Daniel Wiltshire
Actuary & IFA at Wiltshire Wealth
I use it in a limited way. A lot of the stuff that's currently being touted in the financial services sector is either flawed or over-hyped. It's interesting, but there needs to be a use-case.

Computers are excellent at calculating answers to constrained, 'small world' problems - tasks based on clearly defined rules and inputs, like transcribing meeting notes, proofreading documents, or optimizing tax calculations. But humans are better at solving ill-defined 'large world' problems that can't be resolved from existing data.

It's our view that complex issues, such as planning an individual's finances, will always be most effectively served by a human adviser, albeit with the support of technology.
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Scott Taylor-Barr
Principal Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
"Computer: use the CRM details we have on Mr. Smith to complete an application with the lowest cost lender on the basis of a 3-year fixed rate, with the required term to produce a mortgage repayment of no more than £750pm."
Technology has always transformed the way business, and life in general, operates. Many times, it follows the same pattern, which is that companies try to use the new tech to totally replace the professional in a transaction chain. We have seen it time and time again, in multiple industries, and we see it again now with AI, which is apparently going to take over from mortgage brokers, financial advisers, protection advisers, lawyers, doctors, and about a hundred others. However, the reality often turns out to be slightly different and the real winners are those businesses that develop the new technologies to support and improve the professionals in a sector, not try to replace them. But that’s not as catchy a headline.
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Roger Lane
CEO at Fort Advice Bureau
Yes, we use AI in our Mortgage and Protection Business. Primarily to help us quickly build marketing, recruiting and social media material to promote the business, we find it very effective. See our LinkedIn pages for Fort Adivce Bureau We also use it as a transciber to record and make sense of our internal Zoom meetings. It is remarkably good at accurately recording the key points of sometimes quite long and convoluted discussion where action points are not always obvious. The results in all the areas we apply it are good enough to be a huge time saver.

I prefer the term Smart Services to AI, it is a more accurate descriptor. Clever and smart they may be, but there is no intelligence involved.