AI Tools for Title Agents: GPTs, Agents & Automation | Ep 59

In a world where change is the only constant, Mo Shamil stands at the forefront, guiding title professionals to not just grow their businesses, but to master the art of innovation. With every episode, you're handed the keys to unlock unparalleled growth and stay ahead of the curve. Get ready for a transformative journey. Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today, we're really getting into a topic that's making waves, artificial intelligence.

You know, it sparks a lot of interest, but maybe also some, well, anxiety, too. You see the headlines everywhere, AI changing everything, AI coming for jobs. Maybe you feel like you need to learn coding right now. Okay, let's unpack this a bit, because the truth is, you absolutely do not need to code. And honestly, you don't need to be the first person jumping on every new AI thing either.

But and this is important, you do need to pay attention. These tools, they're getting smarter, cheaper, and genuinely more useful like every day. Exactly. And our goal today really is to give you a practical guide. No hype.

We want to focus on tools that can actually free you up from those, you know, repetitive tasks that just eat up your time. Imagine getting hours back. Right. So let's start at the beginning. What exactly is a large language model, an LLM?

Okay, think of it simply as the AI's brain. It's the core part that lets the AI read, write, and even reason. And right now, the tech world is in this, well, you called it an arms race. It's a heated competition to build the smartest, fastest AI brains, a tech arms race. But why should, you know, a title agency care about what's happening in Silicon Valley?

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The O is for Omni, it's their top model. Think of it as a master of all trades, really fast with text, audio, images, handles them all smoothly. A lot of people know it already, it powers the free chat GPT. Very strong reasoning, pretty creative too, versatile. So kind of the powerful generalist, always improving.

Precisely. Then you have Claude from Amthropic. Now Claude is interesting because its core focus is on being helpful, honest, and harmless. It's big strength, a massive context window. Context window, what does that mean practically?

It means it can look at and understand a huge amount of text all at once. Imagine feeding it, say, a 500 page policy manual or a really long chain of closing documents. Wow. Yeah. So it's excellent for that kind of deep document review.

That sounds incredibly useful for complex agreements or yeah, those long closing packets. How does it actually grasp all that data? Yeah. It's designed to, I mean, no AI is perfect, right? But its whole architecture is built to maintain understanding across massive amounts of text.

That's its niche. And then number three is Gemini from Google. This is Google's big play and it's deeply tied into the Google stuff you might already use, search, workspace, Gmail. Ah, okay. So if your agency runs on Google.

Exactly. Gemini's ability to pull info from your existing Google environment is a huge plus. It's also really good at summarizing and pulling together information from, say, multiple websites. Great for due diligence. Okay.

So we've got OpenAI's all-rounder, Anthropic's deep reader, Claude, and Google's integrated Gemini. This competition. What's the real benefit for an agency beyond just shiny new tech? Right. That's the key.

This competition is basically making powerful AI accessible to everyone. It means a smaller agency can now tap into tools that maybe just a year ago only huge companies could afford. That changes things. So three main benefits are emerging. One, lower costs.

Running these models is getting cheaper. Two, more speed. They process information way faster now. And three, easier access. The tools are just becoming simpler to use.

You don't need to be a coder. So it's like the Apple versus Samsung thing with smartphones but for AI brains. The user, in this case a title agency, wins with better tools, faster performance, cheaper access. That's a great analogy. Let's take a look at the increase you mentioned.

That translates directly into efficiency, right? I mean, getting a complex answer or even a drafted email in, say, five seconds instead of 30, that really adds up over a week. Oh, absolutely. Think about it. Better client service.

You answer tough questions instantly, draft follow-ups in seconds, pull up document details while they're still on the phone and internally. More efficient operations, summarizing long reports, drafting memos, finding key clauses. It happens in a fraction of the time. And crucially, this frees up your team, lets them focus on the human stuff, the judgment calls, the relationships, the complex problem-solving AI can't do. Okay.

That's the big picture on the AI model race, but let's make it really practical. What can agencies use? Like today, this is where it gets really interesting, custom GPTs. Yeah. This is something you can actually build right now.

So if the base AI model, like ChatGPT, is a Swiss Army knife, does a bit of everything, a custom GPT is like taking that knife and building a specialized tool from it. You take the core AI brain and you give it two specific things. First, clear instructions. You tell it exactly what its job is. You are an expert on our company's title policy manual.

Only answer questions based on this manual. And second, you give it specific knowledge. You upload your own documents, your SOPs, policy handbooks, maybe FAQs you get all the time. So I'm basically creating my own private AI expert. Yeah.

One that knows our specific procedures and policies, not just general knowledge. Exactly. So if you have a private custom AI that's an expert on your agency's information, think about turning all that institutional knowledge, those binders, into something instantly searchable for your team. It's not just about saving time, though that's huge. It's about reducing errors, speeding up onboarding, making knowledge consistent.

And the uses are immediate, like SOP access. Instead of digging through a binder, an employee just asks, what's our process for lean releases? Bam. Instant answer from your manual. Or training.

New hires can ask it anything about procedures or policies. It's like a 247 tutor. That sounds amazing for getting new people up to speed. Totally. Or even just building one for common questions about closing costs or timelines for staff or maybe even clients.

Okay. You mentioned building one. And the good news, you said, is no coding skills needed. None at all. But what do you need?

Is it about writing perfect prompts or organizing your documents really well? What are the key non-coding skills? That's a really good point. It's less about being a prompt engineer and more about clear thinking and yeah, good organization. Here's basically how it works.

First you need ChatGPT Plus or Enterprise, the paid versions. Then you click explore and create a GPT. That opens the builder. You just start by typing what you want to make. Something simple like, make a GPT to help my team understand our policy manual.

Then you give it clear instructions like, you are an expert on our policies. Only use the documents I upload. Summarize answers. Don't quote long sections. You're setting the rules.

Defining its personality almost. Kind of, yeah. Then you upload your documents, manuals, SOPs, whatever's relevant. And finally you test it. Ask it questions.

See how it does. Tweak the instructions if needed. Then you can make it private just for your team. We heard a cool story about an agency. They built one called the Intake Assistant.

They uploaded a blank intake form and a list of common intake questions. So now an employee gets an email from a client, maybe a buyer. They can just paste that email into the custom GPT and say, draft an intake form for this. And the GPT reads the email, pulls out the names, property address, whatever, and fills in the form fields automatically. That's a perfect example.

Saves minutes every single time, reduces typos, streamlines the whole thing. Okay, so custom GPTs are great for answering questions based on your info. But the next step, the real evolution, is AI agents. AI agents. How are they different?

If a custom GPT answers a question based on knowledge, an AI agent performs a task. It's about action. Think of it as an autonomous workflow that can do multiple steps. Okay, give me an example. Alright, imagine an AI agent that could.

That's a perfect example. Saves minutes every single time, reduces typos, streamlines the whole thing. Okay, so custom GPTs are great for answering questions based on your info, but the next step, the real evolution, is AI agents. AI agents. How are they different?

If a custom GPT answers a question based on knowledge, an AI agent performs a task. It's about action. Think of it as an autonomous workflow that can do multiple steps. Okay, give me an example. All right, imagine an AI agent that could.

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That's the key difference. Custom GPT yields answers. AI agent does tasks. And what's really exciting is what's likely coming in the next, say, six to 12 months. We're looking at a big shift where these agents can learn to do complex multi-step things just by watching you do them.

Wait, watching me? How? Imagine you perform a task in your settlement software, maybe processing a specific type of closing package. The AI watches you do it once or twice. Then the next time that task comes up, the AI can just do it for you.

Seriously? Seriously. We're seeing the early versions already. AIs connect to browsers, to desktop apps. It's coming.

That sounds like a massive leap. How close are we really to that being normal in a title agency? What's the timeline and what are the hurdles? The basic tech is kind of here now, or very close. Advanced adoption for those repetitive digital tasks.

Probably within the next, I guess, two to three years. The biggest hurdles aren't always the AI itself. It's often integrating with existing agency software, which can sometimes be older systems. Right. The legacy systems.

Exactly. And, you know, the human element, trusting the AI, getting comfortable delegating tasks. But as these tools get better and more reliable, they'll become essential for automating the really tedious stuff. Think about tasks like cross-referencing legal descriptions across documents. That's tedious and error prone.

Or automatically flagging missing info on a closing statement. Or chasing down outstanding items from different parties. Things that take up a lot of coordinator time. Precisely. And the value isn't just saving time.

It's reducing human error. And again, freeing up your experienced people to focus on the high stakes decisions, the complex issues, the client relationships where human judgment is absolutely critical. It lets your experts be more expert. Which leads perfectly into this idea of the cautious adopter's mindset. It sounds like being smart about what you automate, not just automating everything possible.

Exactly right. You need a strategy. What should you automate? Start with things that are low stakes, high volume, and repetitive. Good examples.

Internal reports, basic data entry from forms, pulling info from your own SOPs or manuals. Okay. Low risk, high frequency. Right. And what should you not automate?

Anything requiring significant human judgment or oversight. Especially high stakes, client-facing decisions, or complex problem solving. You definitely don't want an AI making the final call on title exceptions or tricky legal interpretations. That's where your team's expertise is irreplaceable. AI is a tool to help them, not replace that core judgment.

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It's not about becoming an AI guru overnight, right? It's more about getting started. Exactly. It's about getting your hands dirty, starting to experiment. So here's a simple four-part plan.

One, experiment with a custom GPT. Just pick one simple, low-risk thing. Build an FAQ bot using your employee handbook. Honestly, just going through the process of building it is super educational. You learn how it thinks, what works, what doesn't.

Two, upload your guides to Notebook LM. Notebook LM, it's a free tool from Google. Take a complex policy manual or maybe your state's title guide, upload it there. Then just practice asking it questions. Summarize section three.

Find the rule about X. Oh, interesting. So a safe space to test asking questions of your own document. Exactly. Powerful, totally risk-free way to see how AI handles your critical info.

Three, audit your workflows. This is simple but powerful. For just one week, keep a notepad nearby. Every time you do a repetitive task that takes, say, more than 10 minutes maybe, manually copying data, drafting basically the same email again, just jot it down. Ah, so you identify your own biggest time sinks.

Precisely. That list becomes your potential roadmap for future automation. You'll see where the biggest opportunities are in your agency. And number four, talk to your vendors. Reach out to the companies providing your main software settlement platform, marketing tools, accounting system.

Ask them, what's your AI roadmap? They're all working on integrations. Knowing what they're planning is really important for your planning. It's about strategic alignment. Okay, that's a really solid, actionable plan.

Experiment with custom GPTs, test with Notebook LM, audit your workflows, and talk to your vendors. Well, that wraps up our deep dive on AI for title agents. We really hope this has, you know, cut through some of the hype and given you practical steps you could take. Remember, just pay attention. I'm starting to experiment now.

This will put you in a really strong position going forward. Absolutely. And maybe it leaves you with an interesting question to think about. As AI starts handling more of the routine stuff, how might the very definition of expertise change in the title industry? What new, maybe higher value skills will become really crucial for human professionals to cultivate?

Something to ponder. And that's a wrap on today's journey with Mo Shamil from the Title Agents Podcast. Reminding you that mastering the art of innovation is key in the title industry's fast-paced world. If you're finding it tough to keep up with the changes and challenges, remember, you're not alone. Our calendar is open for you.

Find the link in the show notes and let's connect. Make sure to hit subscribe to not miss out on strategies that elevate and insights that empower. Together, we'll navigate the future of the industry. I look forward to our next meeting in the upcoming episode.