The human touch is still needed
Despite the rise of robotics and other elements of technology, the human touch is still required in the insurance industry, according to a panel at the Intelligent Automation in Insurance: unlocking the artificial intelligence revolution conference, taking place in London today.
Looking at how best to leverage intelligent automation in underwriting, a panel at the event agreed that the insurance industry needs to view the new technology as subservient to a company, and not its master.
Dan Bishop, head of pricing, Hiscox UK & Ireland, pointed out that once a change is made and implemented, the real work starts after you go live. Data quality is important, as data needs to be delivered to the right people in the portfolio writing team, he added.
It was also stressed that as useful as technology is, the human touch is still required.
Emma Kirby-Kidd, process automation lead at Ageas, pointed out that although robotic process automation (RPA) helps human employees, people still need to be part of the process to make sure that the robotics makes the right decisions. If correctly set up the RPA can make the right decision almost 100 percent of the time, but if not set up right it can, equally, make the wrong decision almost 100 percent of the time.
The panel stressed that specialists are still required in underwriting, as it is very difficult to teach a robot to think like a human brain. Emotion is still required—you are insuring something you care about. Automation won’t replace people completely, they agreed.
In addition, the industry still needs underwriters to write complex risks, as you can’t teach an algorithm to be creative, or to identify emerging risks.
The panel also pointed out another human element: clients want to be involved and to be reassured that insurers understand their business, especially when it is complex. You can’t teach an algorithm to do that, they concluded.
Make sure you are GDPR compliant and confirm your email address to keep getting our daily emails
More of today's news
Markel co-CEO prepared to shed business as he pushes for rate increases
CNA chief financial officer retires; successor revealed
Cat bond issuance reaches record $3.58bn in Q1
Aon appoints new global CEO of affinity business
Claims handling, AI and the human element
