Financial planning may become a different kind of profession as technology changes the way Britons consume advice, the new chief executive of the Chartered Insurance Institute has said.
Speaking to FT Adviser, Hill - who joined the CII in April this year as the third chief executive in three years - said AI and technological developments would change the way those in the UK seek and engage with insurance and financial advice.
He said: "AI potentially removes the need for technical expertise, and so you can then see why people might see that as a threat.
"Now many professionals would say 'Ah, people still want to deal with human beings', and I've been guilty of making that sort of assumption too.
"But I am not sure humans will still want to do business only with humans. The focus of what being a professional is might need to change because the human customer may not need you for the technical expertise anymore.
"However, they may need an intermediary to help articulate their problems, so the profession becomes more about communication, empathy and understanding what's in the mind of the human beings you've got in front of you."
Hill says that regulators, governments and professional bodies are still playing catch-up when it comes to AI and technology, meaning people have to think ahead and see how its use might impact their business, or how to deploy it to enhance their business.
According to Hill: "Nobody - not even West Coast visionaries - can predict what will come to pass.
"But even in a technologically enabled society, you still have to train for years to be an effective insurance or financial planning professional, and you need some ethical training and grounding.
"So AI will not replace what members do, but it will change how they do it."
He adds: "I think that's an exhilarating question. I won't say 'scary' but exhilarating."
CII tech developments
The CII itself is exploring AI and developing technology.
Hill acknowledged there had been some hiccups in the past with technology at the CII, as outlined in previous FT Adviser stories.
He said the Institute has made significant "progress" over the past year or so to rationalise the many legacy systems that have "grown up with the CII over the past 20 or 25 years."
He said: "Almost every day sees us reach a new milestone on the technology journey.
"We recently moved to a new sales platform which resolved a lot of things that might be invisible to many members, but we had been dealing with delays and technical glitches in getting some of our learning development products out to big firms.
"This has been addressed by this new sales platform."
He said the CII was not trying to think of this as a big transformation programme - just 'business as usual', but the body is looking at how AI can help the CII grow.
