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Artificial intelligence (AI) is destined to penetrate every nook and cranny of the mortgage business. That's why, in the days and months to come, we'll profile a parade of AI tools to help borrowers and mortgage advisors. And we'll start with this one.

It's called Lender Spotlight AI Assistant, and it's from Lendesk.

Like a digital bloodhound, AI Assistant sniffs through a whopping 7000+ lender policies, figuring out which lender might consider a given mortgage scenario.

"...It would be a very brave central bank indeed to be even considering hiking rates with the latest quarterly GDP report printing negative."
—BMO Economics

That's the orthodox playbook, anyway.

But the Bank of Canada could unexpectedly take the road less travelled, kind of like the Detroit Lions faking a punt inside their 20-yard line on Thursday, with 27 million fans watching.

The BoC may need a surprise play of its own because we're by no means out of the woods on inflation. It knows that rising price levels and a slowing economy can co-exist despite last quarter's negative GDP print. We've seen that odd couple before, back in the disco era of '76 to '82.

The BoC would rather play the Grinch who stole borrowers' paychecks than be accused of letting the inflation horse back out of the barn. That's why its communications have left the door open for an insurance hike, even amidst a waning economy.

Getting inflation down is like wrestling a greased pig. Sometimes, it gets away from you for a while.

This fall will be one of those times.

Getting headline inflation back in the twos won't come easy. If you want to understand how challenging the Bank of Canada's task is, consider the following.

The Manulife One (M1) has always been one of the most powerful and flexible products in the mortgage market. But as slick as it is, the broker version was like a Brioni suit with a mustard stain—somewhat flawed.

But now, Manulife has ironed out a few of the wrinkles. So, let's review this mini-M1 makeover and see what they've done.

Canada would be better off if pesky variable-rate mortgages with fixed payments were "less prevalent," says our banking regulator.

Oftentimes, when rates surge, their "fixed payments do not cover the interest payments and mortgage principal outstanding grows," said Superintendent Peter Routledge in a keynote speech at Thursday's Scotiabank Financials Summit.

"In fact, the contractual amortization period does not change. And mortgagors will have to make up the deferred principal paydowns when they renew. This means they are at risk of suffering a significant payment shock."