AI is blind to shades of grey in advice

The proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) has caught the attention of the entire financial advice sector in recent years, with paraplanners being no exception.

Amid discussions on the appropriate use of AI in practices and how it can best serve Australians, the recurring question pertains to how it might reshape specific roles.

For Hayley Knight, director of Contract Paraplanning Services, paraplanners have nothing to worry about.

Speaking to ifa, she explained that a paraplanner provides a unique value to clients that AI simply cannot rival.

“Money can be a very ‘taboo’ subject and often clients can feel vulnerable and emotional when meeting with their adviser, especially in the first few interactions,” Ms Knight told ifa.

“The advice document is a representation of these meetings and it is vital for the paraplanner to understand the nuances to show that the adviser has not only listened to the clients’ needs, but also has a deep understanding of what is important to them.”

Ms Knight first raised this topic on her LinkedIn page, where she began by saying: “AI will not take a paraplanner’s job”.

“There’s a lot of talk about what AI can/may do but in my own research, it’s years off replacing a paraplanner. In fact, I doubt it will ever fully will,” she said on the platform.

Namely, she asserted that current AI capabilities cannot recognise the “grey area” of advice and are incapable of understanding individual circumstances and expressing empathy.

According to Ms Knight, it is these qualities that make a great paraplanner.

“On paper, AI could tell you the right advice for that client but does it suit them? Does it consider how the client feels?

“Sometimes, the right advice isn’t always the best advice for the client and only a human can fill in those gaps.

“However, I cannot deny that AI definitely does/will have a place in the process,” she added.

Ms Knight has since told ifa that the greatest opportunity for paraplanners lies in leveraging AI to tackle their “black and white” tasks, which frees them up for duties that cannot be easily automated.

“AI definitely does have its place in paraplanning but it will be most useful in the more ‘black and white’ tasks,” she said.

“Currently, paraplanners complete a lot of time-consuming tasks such as formatting, creating template text, and comparing products.

“These are the types of tasks that tech can absorb, leaving the paraplanner to focus their time on more specialised areas such as strategy creation and customising the advice,” Ms Knight concluded.