A Lower survey reveals how far borrowers will let AI go and when they still want a human
Consumer comfort with artificial intelligence in the mortgage process has reached a meaningful threshold. Nearly half of Americans, or 49.2%, are now comfortable with AI approving or denying a mortgage application, according to a new survey by Lower, a mortgage lender based in Columbus, Ohio.
The finding, drawn from a Pollfish survey of 1,000 US consumers conducted on September 9, places AI's role in underwriting in relief than prior sentiment data.
Comfort extends well beyond simple research tasks. Majorities of respondents back AI recommending how much they should borrow (67.3%), determining whether they qualify for a mortgage (64.7%), and reviewing financial documents (54.3%).
Rate comparison (76.8%) and answering general mortgage questions (74.9%) rank highest across all tasks surveyed.
Approval or denial is the only function where comfort dips below 50%, but the 49.2% figure suggests consumers are thinking about AI's role in ways that extend far beyond search and comparison.
Data & Analysis
Consumer comfort with AI across the mortgage process
Share of US consumers comfortable with AI handling each task
| Mortgage task | Comfortable with AI | |
|---|---|---|
| Comparing mortgage rates and loan options | 76.8% | |
| Answering general mortgage questions | 74.9% | |
| Recommending a specific type of mortgage | 71.8% | |
| Estimating how much home you can afford | 70.7% | |
| Recommending how much you should borrow | 67.3% | |
| Determining whether you qualify for a mortgage | 64.7% | |
| Reviewing financial documents | 54.3% | |
| Approving or denying a mortgage application | 49.2% |
Source: Lower/Pollfish survey of 1,000 US consumers, September 9, 2026. Results reflect Pollfish stratified, weighted methodology.
AI approval comfort tied to prior use
Not all borrowers are equally open to the technology. Among consumers who have already used AI for a mortgage or loan question, 72.1% are comfortable with AI making an approval or denial decision. Among those who have not used AI in that context, comfort falls to 41.1%.
Mortgage experience reinforces the divide. Current mortgage holders report 58.4% comfort with AI-led approvals, compared with 33% of consumers who have never held a mortgage and have no plans to.
For brokers keeping pace with how mortgage executives are framing AI's growing influence on origination, the findings confirm a trust dynamic the industry has been tracking: familiarity converts skeptics.
"Once AI has answered the question and saved someone real time, they'll trust it with more," said Gino Fronti, VP of Product for LOAI at Lower.
"People have seen it work."
A new LendingTree survey found that 72% would use AI for at least one task somewhere in the homebuying process. The most common uses were searching for homes within budget, estimating a home's value, and finding down payment assistance programs.https://t.co/qih7ATaNJT
— Mortgage Professional America Magazine (@MPAMagazineUS) September 11, 2026
Human loan officers still anchor the closing process
Consumer openness to AI runs up against a clear limit when deals are at risk. When an unexpected issue threatened to delay or prevent closing, 54.4% of respondents said they would turn to a human loan officer.
Another 28.4% wanted human and AI working in tandem. Just 7% selected an AI-powered assistant alone — meaning 82.8% chose an option involving a person when a transaction was on the line.
Access to a human remained the top comfort factor, cited by 49.1% of respondents, ahead of human review of major AI decisions (38.1%).
"People like to start the mortgage process online," Fronti said.
"But at some point they want an advisor. This is the largest investment of most people's lives. Many people don't want to make that decision entirely inside a browser window."
For those considering how to calibrate their adoption of AI-powered mortgage tools, the survey frames technology in the loan officer's hands, not instead of them.
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