As AI technology continues to be a key talking point across the re/insurance industry, major firms, Swiss Re and Munich Re have explained that the adaption of the technology within the sector remains within its early days and piloting stages.
This was showcased at Swiss Re’s Baden-Baden media conference, when Anne Lohbeck, Chief Underwriting Officer, Global Specialty, Swiss Re, stated that the company hears that everybody at this point is “really piloting” the technology.
She said: “Talking to clients and also talking to competitors, we hear that everybody at this point in time is really piloting. They’re piloting the usage of AI to support information, gathering to support information aggregation, but then still very much use human intelligence to make decisions.”
Adding: “And I think anything that sort of continues beyond that is very much a work in progress.”
However, she did state that there are “huge promises” that withstand from AI and that for now it’s on the entire industry to “put in a bit more work” to uncover what these promises may hold, and to what degree the industry will be able to leverage it.
Elaborating from a casualty perspective, Patrick Roder, Head of Casualty Underwriting, EMEA, Swiss Re, added: “I think we’re also monitoring this really very much from a risk perspective. As mentioned before, the new product liability directive that is currently in the pipeline, there’s also the new AI directive.
“Now, we don’t really know where it’s landing, it’s still being debated. But let’s just say, if for example, an algorithm is designated to be part of the product, that could also become very much a casualty liability topic, basically.
“AI support decision making processes in HR could become an employment practice liability exposure. So, we’re very much also monitoring this to make sure we really understand what it means from an underwriting risk taking perspective.”
Meanwhile, the topic of AI was also discussed during Munich Re’s media briefing ahead of Baden-Baden.
Clarisse Kopff, Member of the Board of Management of Munich Re, explained that the AI regulatory environment is “really nascent”.
She explained that the topic is still early in discussion and that it remains unclear whether there will be some new products.
Overall, it remains very clear that AI is still within its early days of being deployed across the re/insurance industry, but the technology clearly has the potential to play an important role across many parts of the business.
