The Finance Brokers Association of Australasia (FBAA) has welcomed a recent poll that showed members are embracing AI technology, albeit cautiously, saying the industry must always be moving forward.

The association’s latest monthly broker poll found that 39 per cent of finance and mortgage brokers said AI was either “a core part” of their business, or they were “actively integrating AI across multiple areas of the business”.

FBAA interim CEO Peter White AM (who announced his retirement from the association this month) said it was encouraging that 80 per cent of those polled were using AI for client engagement and marketing.

“We know there are still many limitations in AI and I wouldn’t be rushing to use it for legal or compliance issues but it can increase efficiency and save time in other areas.

“Brokers must embrace rapidly changing technology on an ongoing basis, and as they do this sensibly and even cautiously, they won’t be left behind.”

The poll also identified that brokers under age 50 were twice as likely to use AI at work (54 per cent) than brokers over 50 (27 per cent) which isn’t surprising given that embracing rapidly changing technology is more difficult for some who have been doing things the same way for so long.

It also revealed that concern over data security was a key reason many brokers were hesitant to adopt the technology, likely based on findings that 12 per cent of those surveyed experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year.

The FBAA has warned members not to input personal information of clients or the company into commercially available AI, and has pointed to the office of the Australian Information Commissioner, which warns on its website, “Once personal information has been input into AI systems, particularly generative AI products, it will be very difficult to track or control how it is used, and potentially impossible to remove the information from the system.”

Overall, the FBAA was pleased that among brokers who’ve used, tested or explored AI for daily tasks, 4 in 10 say it made a notable and positive difference to their business.

Read the full report HERE