New utilization of conversational AI (artificial intelligence) and large language models (LLM) in document indexing by Columbus, Ohio-based Razi Title is already providing new efficiency for clients. In an exclusive interview with The Title Report, Razi Title Chief Technology Officer Robert Zwink outlined these additions to his company’s platform, which were made in December. “In our experience, there’s generally always a backlog of paperwork via title plants or data warehouses or starter management systems,” he said. “It all seems to lead back to there being a stack of paper everywhere. In order to streamline that, you have to know what you’re working with. “The ability to use AI to classify documents right down to the page level can help clear out those stacks.As we clear out paperwork, there’s a consumer benefit. When you think about the wait that can happen, or the variability in closings, it’s often a stack of paperwork that you have to get through. AI can streamline operations an...
As ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence (AI) models gain popularity, title professionals from Washington, D.C.-based Razi Title, Inc. are finding ways to use those innovations to improve everyday efficiency. Razi Title Chief Technology Officer Robert Zwink and Chief Executive Officer Lili Farhandi sat down with The Title Report to discuss what they’ve dubbed “TitleGPT,” a conversational AI built in-house that specializes in title industry-related documentation.
“We didn’t build this from total scratch,” Zwink said. “We’ve made use of the same technology that ChatGPT uses. Ours is unique, standalone and purpose-built for indexing title documents. When I first started interacting with ChatGPT, I asked if there was a word for the anxiety someone can feel in harnessing this type of technology. “Lili and I are very passionate about strengthening the title community. At the end of the day, we want to put this at the fingertips of all title professionals, distill this tech down in a way everyone can understand, and reduce the time it takes to get to quality results.”
TitleGPT is already being implemented by a handful of select companies and users of Razi Exchange, a Razi Title, Inc. community that lets professionals exchange prior policies, create efficiency in the title search, shorten the time to close and unlock new business.
Zwink and Farhandi said they plan to oversee wider distribution by the middle of 2023, starting off with a free access model. Farhandi went over ways conversational AIs can push the title industry forward over the next five to 10 years.
“I’d love to see this technology go somewhere where we have accurate data on the title and not doing what I call the ‘rework’ in putting title insurance documents together,” Farhandi said. “This is a real opportunity to remove a lot of redundancies and make everyday duties that much easier for everyone involved.” Zwink said it’s too early to quantify exactly how much time is saved by using TitleGPT for indexing documents as opposed to performing those tasks manually, but he said the benefits are clear as day. “When you think about the number of hours saved from having a reliable AI available for this indexing work, it’s really hard to count that,” he said. “ChatGPT provides the answer to questions in a very modern way, and to be able to do that reliably at a fraction of the cost is very beneficial.
“What Razi has done has all been in-house. We don’t rely on ChatGPT as an external service. That’s very exciting. Not only can we lend efficiency, but we can lend it at scale without driving up the cost. Our goal is to make this technology accessible and affordable.”
Experts have cited several ways ChatGPT-related tech can benefit title and other insurance sectors in the short term and long term, including underwriting, customer support, claims processing and fraud protection. ChatGPT can be trained to assist in the detection of insurance fraud, where it can identify patterns of inconsistencies and flag them for human review. According to the FBI, the total cost of insurance fraud, not counting health insurance cases, is estimated to be more than $40 billion per year.
“It’s exciting to think about a more efficient and less costly way to perform a title search with the peace of mind on the accuracy of your data” Farhandi said. “We’re very excited thinking about what comes next and new ways we can help the title community, to put it right in front of them so it’s there whenever they need it.” Multiple cybersecurity firms offering services to title agencies have recently said instances of fraud and attempted fraud remain at all-time highs.
Proponents of ChatGPT and similar tech also stress it should be used for human support rather than a total replacement for manual work or existing technology. “There’s been a continued investment put into quality control with (AI tech) and that’s not going to go away,” Zwink said. “Then you have the confluence of humans and computers and how they work together. It’s something we’ll keep seeing, a continued balance in the force. It’s going to remain very, very important.