The importance of meeting older customers where they are with AI technology

The expanding ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI) across all facets of life is not showing any signs of a slowdown — and that includes its interactions with the reverse mortgage industry.

Bill Packer, chief operating officer of Longbridge Financial, previously explained how senior-focused tailoring of AI systems can help overcome issues tied to perceived institutional biases, resulting in better service for older clients.

But when it comes to the reverse mortgage industry’s implementation of AI technology tools in other areas, there are many possibilities. Packer lays out some of these in this second part of his conversation with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD).

Appraisal reviews

On top of controlling for potential bias that may arise from the AI training process, Packer explained that AI tools can be helpful when assessing property appraisals within the reverse mortgage business.

“One of these places we use the AI tool is for looking at appraisals,” he said. “We can make a determination on whether or not the appraisal is appropriately representing the value of the property. I know that some of our competitors use people to do that process, but we largely rely on some models that have been built.”

This comes down to a question of what can be trusted more to accomplish the objective, he explained.

“Do I trust a model that unemotionally is looking at house-price appreciation, or the history of the property, the comps that were being used versus other comps?” Packer asked. “Do I trust that as being less biased than a human being who’s bringing their own thoughts, expectations and experience to the table?

“I would argue that I think the dispassionate AI model is going to be less ageist, especially if it’s been developed correctly and tested over time, than human beings, unfortunately.”

Proper service

Packer previously said he was not totally sure about the idea that older customers prefer “function over flash.” This feeds into the need to view older customers as distinct individuals rather than lumping them into a group.

“We aren’t a monolith,” he said. “I even look across my friend group. Some of them have refinanced many times and are very comfortable in an online environment. Some of them have not refinanced as much or feel less able to make that journey unguided.

“And I think that’s one of the tremendous powers of Longbridge: If you want to interact with us and move through that platform digitally, we have a solution for you.”

Clients who want personal contact can also be served by this system, if they prefer. If that means a phone or video call, or an in-office visit, the company is structured in a way to accommodate any of these preferences, Packer said.

“We’re happy to engage with you where, when and how that customer wants to engage on a very personalized basis, because any of these generalities rapidly fall apart as soon as you get to the individual,” he said.

“I would even say that in an individual transaction, when you have more than one borrower, they’ll have other parties that are assisting in the progression of the process.”

Limits of customer-facing AI

Trusted advisers may prefer different engagement options than prospective borrowers, and Longbridge wants to be able to accommodate these preferences. Ultimately, options will include a consumer-facing AI chatbot that is still in development, Packer said.

“That’s going to be a big leap for us, and we have to get super comfortable first with our partners and see some evolution there before we’ll do that,” he said. “But I think that that day is certainly coming.”

Packer shared a personal story about staying at a large hotel chain and wanted to locate the “do not disturb” tag on his door. He couldn’t find it in his room, so he tried to call the front desk but quickly realized he was speaking with an AI chatbot.

It was unable to comprehend the nature of his question, and he immediately craved direct human interaction.

“It gave me the option to opt out and talk to someone else,” he said. “I think all of us, at a moment like that, we want to get to that real human being. Longbridge is always going to support that, because I think that always makes sense.”