AI - Artificial Insurance anyone?

Friday 5th March 2010

By Steve Devine, business development manager at IGI insurance Company

I was lucky enough to go to the Carling Cup on Sunday and it proved to be a decent game and in a pleasant way a bit unsettling.

Let me explain. First of all it was the colours. What a treat to see the masses of claret and blue fans marching towards the stadium and all around it. If only it could have been the Hammers. Then I noticed that, while there were large numbers of fans in the red, black, and white of Man Utd, the entire population of Norwich had also descended on Wembley wearing their green and yellow scarves.  Confused, I sought solace and sanctuary under the Bobby Moore statue and calm was restored, before I picked up my ticket from my friend and went off to watch the match.

Wembley is a great stadium and while I got there quite smoothly to see the match, after the game, the 30 minute wait in the queue to Wembley Park underground station in the lashing rain, diluted my enthusiasm and wellbeing to the point that I arrived home back in North Bedfordshire tired and exhausted.

Restoration was only just around the corner though because on Monday I went to The General Insurance Summit, organised by the Financial Services Forum and sponsored by the Innovation Group. Held at Highgate House in Northamptonshire, this was a two-day event and I have to say it was fantastic and I enjoyed it immensely.

Around 50 of the UK's leading marketeers and senior executives in General Insurance were treated to a series of expert presentations followed by discussions and debates, on the issues and especially the innovation that's likely to drive the insurance market in the future.

I don't think any of the innovation that we discussed really surprised me.  Obviously the mobile phone/device market is going to be an important driver in the present and short-term future. Social networking too – it’s already here and could catch some players unawares if they do not keep up with some of the progress already made.

The only real disappointment to me with regards innovation, is the lack of utilisation, or delayed entry of artificial intelligence, or Avatars. I was shown these over 10 years ago on a visit to BT Laboratories in Suffolk. I remember leaving there, tingling excitedly with thoughts of computers being sewn into our clothes, talking heads, holograms launched from contact lenses, virtual meetings, and all other sorts of magic. No more endless disputes about advised or non-advised insurance sales. If you programme an artificial intelligence to provide the advice, nothing can go wrong - no mis-selling, perfect advice and all the evidence you will ever need to have. Job done!

Just before the summit ended, in a casual conversation during a break, I heard that there's speculation that Toyota might be investigating a computer programme error as a potential source of the pedal problems in their cars.
So there’s the lesson I suppose - there are no magic fixes. Just play it safe and look after your customers as best you can.
 
Steve Devine is business development manager at IGI insurance Company and chairs Protect - the Association of UK Creditor Insurers
Steve joined IGI this year from Cardif Pinnacle (formerly Pinnacle Insurance) where he spent 15 years, the last seven as the head of group corporate communications. Before that he was head of general insurance with Hambro Countrywide, the estate agency group.
Steve is married with four children and as a long-suffering West Ham fan he has learned to cope with difficult and extended lean times.