As technology reaches further into the realm of commercial insurance underwriting, there is still and will likely continue to be a place for human input, sources said.
“Risk management is clearly more important in mid- and large-sized insurance accounts,” said Sean Ringsted, Bermuda-based chief digital officer for Chubb Ltd. “I think over time there will be more value and benefit as this (technology) gets driven up from small accounts into the mid, but there’s always going to be a place for underwriting judgment.”
Technology can augment human decision-making without replacing it.
“When we think about how we’re using artificial intelligence and technology, it’s really to help us understand an assessment more than automate the underwriting,” due mainly to the large and complex nature of risks covered, said Michael Lebovitz, senior vice president of innovation at FM Global in Johnston, Rhode Island.
For example, artificial intelligence can be used to gather and analyze information from imagery supplied by satellites, aircrafts or drones, he said. “This gives our engineers and underwriters more information and better information and gets it to them faster.”
“All of this — new data sources, how you analyze it — it’s about augmenting the human,” said Helene Stanway, digital leader, Axa XL, a unit of Axa SA, in London. “Humans can use data sources to make more informed decisions.”
