The 2023 annual dinner of the Association of Average Adjusters in London was filled with calls for marine insurance and legal professionals to recognise the indispensable value of independent average adjusters, notwithstanding the giant strides made within artificial intelligence (AI).
The 200-plus members and guests at the Savoy Hotel event each expressing admiration for the long-held traditions of the 154-year-old Association were assured that average adjusters would continue to tender their expertise at a level that would out-rival generative AI products.
The two main factors in which they aim to do this, by making trust a priority and leaving no room for error.
It was stressed that average adjusters’ skills would remain unmatched by the latest technological innovations.
AI applications would be confounded in handling marine casualties efficiently and reliably because they lacked human qualities such as emotional intelligence and intuition.
No one should be dazzled by the theoretical possibility that AI ‘bots’ might soon be able to ‘pass’ even the tough exams for eligibility for Fellowship of the Association, they said.
Melis Otmar is the Claims Director of H&D Marine at BMS Group and having qualified as Lloyd’s broker in 2005, she is chair of the London & International Brokers Association marine claims sub-committee. She urged the industry to determine its approach to Artificial Intelligence, which could scan everything in a document and reach a conclusion within seconds.
Otmar stated, “Where do I stand against AI which might achieve becoming a Fellow of the Association in just four hours – judging by the time it took Google’s Alpha Zero programme to self-learn chess and ‘smash’ the rival computer reigning world champion? Where do I stand against AI who may learn by heart every marine insurance condition, case, and adjustment available in minutes? Where do I stand against AI who may do a Lloyd’s Open Form salvage award calculation in seconds?
“Previously technology replaced unskilled tasks, and new technology came in creating new jobs. However, currently, AI can perform white-collar jobs more efficiently; and the degree of existential risk posed by AI is to be debated. Nevertheless, marine professionals survived with their innate knowledge and intuition; no marine casualty can be handled successfully without human emotional intelligence or intuition–this is what AI lacks.
“The general average will be general and average to AI but only on paper, not in action. In the words of Churchill: ‘We are still masters of our fate. We still are captains of our souls.’”
Heather Robinson, a Fellow of the Association who is Director of Marine Adjusting, Middle East for Richards Hogg Lindley added on the reinsurance market, “When reinsurers proactively instruct adjusters in respect of claims, the adjuster lends transparency to the claims process. This is especially important in markets where the claims leader is a local insurer and retaining very little of the original risk–effectively a reinsurance broker. Without the involvement of an independent adjuster, there is a very real risk of a gap between what local insurers do with the claim and what they ask from reinsurers.”
