The Earnix Excelerate Conference in London recently was a chance for people in the insurance sector to learn more about automated systems, platforms and AI. The transformation of insurance continues at pace, with technology offering a customisable toolkit for brands to refine their offer, streamline claims and gain customer insights. IE caught up with Marcus Looft, (below) Director of Strategy at Earnix to learn more.
IE: Can AI balance automated decision-making with the human touch in future?
ML: People want to be sure that AI systems have transparency as their foundation, that there is nothing going on behind the scenes that is hidden from them. This is so important. Personally when I see modern AI now I always see a human hierarchy above AI, and so for Earnix too we feel the same way, that a human being can always have the final say. Not just executing decisions via AI, that isn’t the way ahead.
IE: We are seeing this mindset from Regulatory authorities in all key markets now, that AI cannot be allowed to set prices and settle claims by itself, so it looks like there will be a standard regulatory framework to contain it in the future?
ML: Absolutely. Also these machines make mistakes, so you cannot rely 100% all the time. Sometimes things don’t integrate perfectly, so we need oversight when using these AI tools – it isn’t God.
When you ask big questions like – how can AI rate the risk of an individual – then this is an important issue, and it will help us regulate our systems and affect how we build them. Everyone wants a smoother process, so tech is good, but there have to be limits and checks – all the time. Earnix has a great culture as regards AI ethics, it’s something important to us.
IE: In the opening speech today, we heard insurance is a process – a chain – and we are perhaps at a tech crossroads, where you can look at data within the whole chain and apply that dataset elsewhere in the chain. There are so many possibilities when it comes to using the data that AI is gathering aren’t there?
ML: Exactly, this is a great opportunity for the industry. In some areas AI is superseding what humans can analyse from datasets, plus they never get tired and need time off. I guess we are at the point where machine learning can crystallise the data and explain how it came to that conclusion, which is exciting. That said, the Regulator is vigilant on this issue, and they also want to see how these decisions are being reached.
IE: In a way it’s a big challenge now in that companies have to share data, they cannot keep it in a server in their basement, in a silo. Sharing, over-layering data, is good but it has risks as well as benefits, especially protecting your customer data?
ML: We see the benefits ourselves, great market insights and knowledge are available. You can compress decades of experience in risk very quickly. The big step forward is in comparing huge amounts of data, which you couldn’t do in the past. It was too time-consuming. For the foreseeable future I see a co-existence as regards human experience and AI, both sides can learn more.
IE: The day will come when AI can compress all its experience and that will be an interesting point, where it feels it’s learned almost everything, do you agree?
ML: Maybe so, at some point. But that is really why ethical AI will always be the primary goal, and for Earnix we can say that this is central to our future strategy, it has to be that way.
IE: From this morning’s sessions at Excelerate stand out as a comment or insight?
ML: Many people are talking about how clients have modernised their infrastructure and how well they are doing it. The measurement of progress being made using technology is very impressive, companies are very excited to guide customers through the sign up or admin process much quicker. It’s about helping customers and it’s good to hear about those good experiences happening worldwide.
You can lose sight of the end user sometimes and it’s great to see stories today of how Earnix is helping companies to make life easier for their customers too. In the end this is what you take away from Excelerate; the benefits come from companies helping people, which is really what insurance is all about.
IE: Marcus it’s good to hear positive things are happening, thanks for your time.
Be the first to comment