Despite having a 100-plus-year history, the title industry is now embracing some of the newest technologies on the market, including artificial intelligence. An overwhelming 88.3% of title and escrow professionals surveyed have already adopted generative AI solutions, according to the State of AI in Title and Escrow published this week by Qualia.
Qualia surveyed 378 title and escrow professionals about their thoughts on AI usage and application in the title insurance industry.
According to the report, 84% of title professionals surveyed feel neutral, optimistic or very optimistic about the benefits of AI for the industry over the next three to five years. So far, the most commonly used AI technologies by survey respondents include predictive text (29.8%), chatbots (20.6%), voice assistants (23.4%) and note taking/transcription services (8.5%). Only 11.7% of respondents reported not using any AI tools.
Additionally, while some have predicted that AI technology will take jobs away from title industry professionals, survey responses revealed that most disagree with this outlook. In a free response section, one respondent noted that “AI technology is inevitable. Businesses will have to keep up or lose business.” Another respondent said, “I believe AI will revolutionize how our industry deals with daily tasks. There are so many repetitive steps in our processes that can be automated.”
Despite optimism, respondents noted that “due diligence is required to ensure AI tools meet the security, data privacy, and ethical standards necessary for the highly-sensitive transactions title & escrow professionals handle every day.” The biggest risks of AI usage, according to respondents, are increased or more sophisticated fraud attempts, data security issues, regularity or legal concerns, and ethical concerns.
These concerns are exacerbated by the fact that 93.4% of respondents reported that their firm does not have companywide policies in place to govern AI. According to Qualia, this opens up firms to risks like “shadow AI,“ which involves employees using unsanctioned and potentially insecure tools without company knowledge. This can expose businesses to security risks and data leakage, as well as reputational risks and inefficiencies.
On the other hand, respondents did note the many benefits of AI for individuals and firms. The top-ranked benefits were automation of repetitive tasks; enhanced productivity and efficiency; increased employee satisfaction; and better business intelligence for scaling and growth.
Overall, Qualia concluded that the widespread adoption of AI tools by title industry professionals shows that AI is “sticky,” and is providing tangible value to employees.
