Insurance industry well positioned to use AI, panelists say

The insurance industry is already expert in assessing risk, and that makes the industry well positioned to use generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT.

During the KPMG Insurance Industry Conference this week, a KPMG panel discussed AI's influence on the insurance sector, providing insights on the matter.

Insurance was one of the first industries to use big data, said Scott Shapiro, principal, advisory, KPMG US. The ability to take large sets of data, build even larger bodies of data around them and then query them in natural language was used by the industry years before ChatGPT captured the world’s interest.

AI technology “will significantly impact any transactions that require human intervention,” said Richard Entrup, senior advisor with KPMG Enterprise Innovation. He listed customer service, fraud detection and medical billing as some of the areas in which AI could perform about 80% of tasks currently performed by humans.

Knowledge management is “a huge opportunity for AI,” said Edward Moran, KPMG US managing director, tech leadership.

“AI can help with workflows. For example, it can tell you: ‘Here are the three emails you must answer by the end of the day.’ ‘Someone asked for a meeting, and I looked at your calendar and set the meeting up for you.’

“AI can help with the claims process and the client experience. It can help brokers do their jobs better.”

AI can make processes smoother

Jeanne Johnson, advisory principal with KPMG, said insurance executives should look at all aspects of the business to determine where AI can make processes smoother.

“I think we start with going across the value change – from marketing to service to claims – and look at where things get stuck because you need more information and you need to move the needle,” she said.

“For example, you can use AI to enhance risk profiling and that could enhance underwriting. You can give better insights to your agents so you can get better qualifying leads.”

Although AI has many applications in the insurance industry, companies must prepare for it – and that means preparing their data, Entrup said. “There’s a lot to do to get your data ready for this technology,” he said.

“AI eats data, so getting your house in order around data is essential,” said Brian Bacsu, director of architecture and platform engineering with DXC Technology.

“Data means not only your database, but it means your documentation as well. It includes your image libraries, your scans; it can include your emails.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at Susan.Rupe@innfeedback.com. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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Susan Rupe is editor in chief, magazine, for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at susan.rupe@innfeedback.com.