AI is the trending topic of the year, it seems – and the insurance industry is awash with speculation regarding its uses, its potential uses, and its capacity for misuse.

All these concerns are valid – but the fact remains that AI is set to change the industry radically within the very foreseeable future. 

Hamesh Chawla, CEO and Co-founder of Mulberri Inc. leads one of the most dynamic embedded insurtechs in the market today in the payroll, HR and CRM space. We asked him how AI is driving change in his company, what he’s using it for, and what he thinks about it from a pros and cons point of view. 

How is Mulberri using AI right now – and what have the benefits been?

We at Mulberri believe AI is critical in moving the insurance industry forward. We use AI in several places – from data ingestion, where we parse ACORD forms to determine workers’ compensation-related claims and losses for a small-medium business, to EPLI-related risks. We are working on new ways to incorporate AI into the platform in every update.

From a benefits perspective, we have reduced the amount of data entry for platform users and provided additional insights to an underwriter to determine how best to price a policy. We are now working to simplify insurance tasks for our platform users further.

AI is pretty controversial right now (Elon Musk’s objections, AI ‘Godfather’, Geoffrey Hinton’s recent resignation from Google, etc). What’s your take on the current situation which calls for greater regulation of AI in relation to the insurance industry?

AI has been used in the insurance industry for some time now. AI, specifically ChatGPT, has gained attention recently because of its astounding capabilities and the disruption potential it depicts. AI will continue to become an integral part of our lives and businesses, and we should plan for it.

However, it cannot replace everything. For instance, AI cannot replace an insurance broker simply because it has trained on a vast amount of data. It cannot be a source to go for an owner whose business has just suffered a cyber-attack and needs someone to talk to. 

If the AI is not trained well, biases and discrimination could creep back in and set us all back – not to mention legal implications for all involved. Therefore, I do strongly agree that there is a need for regulations to control AI development and deployment in general – more so in cases where there could be a significant impact on society and people’s livelihoods.

Like the advent of the internet, Large Language Models (LLMs) will have a massive impact on almost all our businesses. It also needs oversight and a regulated pace until we understand what and how much the impact will be.

How would you like to see AI utilised in the insurance industry going forward, and why?

AI is necessary to take the insurance industry forward. I would like to see AI utilised in many areas of our industry, such as:

• Reducing manual tasks during the submission intake process

• Act as an assistant to brokers and underwriters and help them understand task priorities instead of them looking through all items in their inboxes. I see AI as enabling brokers and not replacing any function that they do

• Determining the risk a new business adds to your portfolio

• Understanding the potential and size of a claim, should it happen

• Adjudicating the claim automatically or with minimal paperwork

Should we be more careful in terms of AI R&D and use case applications? 

 AI has matured to where it will start impacting our lives significantly. Regarding AI R & D and use case applications, I consider AI to become an assistant and to improve efficiency and productivity in the insurance industry. 

AI can allow us to spend more time building relationships, writing more business, and providing better customer service. We should avoid applying AI to use cases where it replaces key functions, whether it be advising a client, declining applications or claims automatically, or assisting clients when they need a person to talk to.

In summary, we should all be prepared to accept AI to better our lives like the internet but not treat it as a solution or replacement for critical functions where oversight is and will always be needed.

Join Mulberri in New York at Insurtech Insights USA 2023

Join Hamesh Chawla at Insurtech Insights USA 2023, the USA’s fastest growing Insurtech conference on June 7th and 8th at the Javits Center in New York, as he and three other other, leading cyber insurance experts take part in the live panel discussion: ‘The Technologies Creating a Dynamic Cyber Insurance Strategy’.