The insurance industry has always relied on technology to help advisers do their jobs, whether that’s digital platforms for criteria sourcing or predictive analytical tools for establishing the cost and risk of policies; but as tech advances, some insurers have come to fear that they might not be any jobs for them in the not-too-distant future.
As is the case in many industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is both celebrated and viewed with a measure of disquiet. There’s no doubt that it can be a key part of an insurance broker’s arsenal, but will there come a time when machines can take over their role entirely?
How insurance brokers are harnessing AI
AI has been implemented far and wide in the insurance industry. It can automate many parts of the insurance advice process, from crawling customer profiles to check their eligibility for specific policies in seconds, to handling all risk assessments and underwriting.
Such technology can even offer a superior customer service experience, if harnessed the right way, with live chatbots and automated customer journeys allowing brokerages to not only deal with enquiries more efficiently, but serve more customers too.
With its potential to generate leads and help insurers convert them, the benefits of AI to brokers is obvious, but are there any pitfalls to its use in this sector?
Lee Trett, director and co-founder of online financial advice platform, Money Helpdesk, believes there is a danger of firms becoming overly reliant on artificial intelligence.
“AI is proving to be a great asset for insurance advisers,” he said. “They can drive more sales, shave precious time off the advice process and ultimately offer a superior customer journey by harnessing it correctly, but the importance of the human adviser is paramount.
“We’re not yet, and may never be, at a point where a machine can take over every step of the insurance-selling process. Human interaction, empathy and trust are central to it, and AI still often falls short when attempting to select bespoke policies for customers.
“Consumers in this space aren’t ready to let a machine handle every aspect of their insurance purchase. The trust isn’t quite there. That’s something the adviser has to work on building with their client – it’s a fundamental part of their job.
“However, I do think there might be occasions where AI technology could stand in for a human adviser, such as a protection insurance application involving the disclosure of a sensitive medical condition. Some people might prefer not to disclose this to an actual person, so giving them the AI option could be beneficial.”
Why human advisers are here to stay
Insurance adviser jobs are not at great risk from AI at present. It is here to shoulder large parts of their workload, but some aspects of it, such as the creation of legal documents, should be left to the humans.
There remains a margin of error when these things are left entirely to AI, and in this industry, that can be the difference between a satisfied customer and a costly lawsuit.
John Tarazi, director and co-founder of Echo Finance, a mortgage brokerage with protection and property insurance advisers on its books, is keen to stress that a combination of human and machine is always a better alternative to 100% machine-powered advice.
“AI is proving a great asset to our insurance advisers, particularly in areas such as compliance and fraud detection, but having it close deals and draw up legal documents is a step too far,” he explained.
“A machine can’t have genuine empathy for a human being, so bespoke advice will always be better delivered by a human adviser. Given that it is the broker who has delivered this advice, it should be them that draws up the legally binding documents the clients will sign.
“While I’m more than ready to implement artificial intelligence to my brokerage on a bigger scale, there is no chance I will do so at the expense of adviser jobs, or any other positions in the company. It’s here to assist the staff, not replace them.”
What does the future hold?
AI will no doubt continue to grow and thrive in most sectors of the business world, and insurance is certainly no exception. The benefits are clear: being able to serve more customers, improve consumer experiences and lower the level of risk.
As this technology becomes more sophisticated, it is likely to take over more aspects of the insurance adviser’s role, but that doesn’t mean it will come for their jobs next. Experts continue to agree that the human adviser remains central to the process, for trust and empathy purposes, even if the number of duties that need to attend to during it is reduced.
With this in mind, it’s possible that AI could even create more insurance adviser jobs, rather than take them. If such tech is bringing in more customers but cannot fully tend to their needs without a broker to fully serve their needs, brokerages might need more advisers.
Lower level jobs at insurance companies, such as admin and support positions, could, however, be in jeopardy in the long run as advisers will need less hands-on support, or perhaps these roles will evolve and become more about delivering AI chat prompts.
