Across the world and increasingly in everyday life, AI is finding its place, automating, accelerating or replacing processes. In the legal sector, particularly in services touching bereavement and estate administration, perhaps its greatest potential lies not in what it can do instead of people, but in what it can enable people to do better.
As AI becomes more capable and commonplace, the challenge is to ensure that increased efficiency creates space for the judgement, empathy and human connection that technology cannot substitute for. Processes can be automated; bereavement is uniquely personal. Processes can be accelerated; grief cannot be rushed. Processes can be replaced; the human response to loss cannot. However sophisticated technology surrounding estate administration becomes, the circumstances, emotions and pressures cannot be reduced to process alone.
In estate administration, the value of technology in delivering more streamlined processes is already evident. Digital services can remove administrative burdens and make tasks such as bereavement notification easier for families and their representatives. Less tangible, but equally important, is the time technology frees to understand individual needs, exercise judgement and solve problems. Applied well, technology strengthens the people using it.
As part of the PCA Global Ventures family of companies, The Estate Registry has seen this approach in action through its sister company, Phillips & Cohen Associates (PCA). Using Clever Nelly, an AI-powered continual learning solution, PCA achieved measurable improvements in employee competence and quality scores, alongside fewer errors. The implementation, which strengthened rather than replaced human expertise, was recognised with a Silver Stevie® Award for AI Implementation of the Year at The 24th Annual American Business Awards®.
While AI may help professionals analyse data and complete routine tasks, understanding how that information affects individuals requires human judgement. Estate administration professionals need to be attuned to financial pressures and liquidity constraints and determine when signposting specialist services is appropriate. Sometimes, a bereaved client simply needs additional explanation, support or time. Technology may identify an issue, but human judgement assesses the nuances of a situation and guides how best to respond.
Looking ahead, AI may become more embedded, less visible and no longer a differentiator, as the focus shifts from who is using AI to how well it’s used. Organisations that stand out will use technology to improve efficiency and provide a better client experience, with human qualities at the forefront.
Ultimately, AI’s greatest benefit lies in giving people more capacity to do what only people can. Bereavement will always be fundamentally human. Technology can remove the burden surrounding it while keeping the person experiencing it at the heart of the service.