Finding the right balance with GenAI and insurance | Insurance business America
It comes with many benefits – but you have to learn to use them
technology
By Mia Wallace
As each new day brings new use cases, the risks and opportunities of generative AI (GenAI) are becoming clearer than ever.
At the heart of the balancing act between using GenAI and mitigating the threats it poses is the same factor behind its recent development: its accessibility. According to Barbara Fernandez (pictured), head of Insur_space at MAPFRE, this is what sets GenAI apart from other elements of artificial intelligence.
The “conversational” nature of the technology allows users from different backgrounds to access extremely complex and sophisticated applications at their own pace and in their own natural language. The fact that you don’t have to be an expert to use the tool is a key factor in its rapid acceleration, she said, and this democratization is also why there have been so many surprising applications of GenAI and its capabilities so far .
The Role of Insurance in a GenAI-Enabled Future
She shared some insights from MAPFRE’s recent report on how different scenarios can “represent the role of insurance in a society that accepts GenAI”, noting that it does not introduce new threats but rather has the potential to Escalate threats already present in other digital technologies. Take cybersecurity and fraud, for example, she said – these are not new challenges for the insurance industry, but the democratizing aspect of GenAI makes committing fraud much easier.
“We need to be prepared as companies but also as individuals,” she said. “Today, for example, when you share audio, you provide data to synthesize your voice, and even 10 seconds of recording is enough…Insurance companies also have to work to protect you, but at the end of the day, the first and last door [threats] “Enter through” is the one you open. It’s all about awareness and the right training, both as a company and as an individual.”
Understanding the “addictive” nature of new technologies
While GenAI’s cyber and fraud implications represent the main threats, Fernandez emphasized that other aspects of this tool remain somewhat under the radar. One of these has to do with mental health, she said, because it is clear that reliance on digital technologies is increasing and dependence on them is increasing. Because of its accessibility, GenAI makes it easier for people to interact with machines, which could encourage this addictive behavior.
“Again, GenAI does not create this addiction, but rather reinforces it,” she said. “In a certain scenario [a person] could develop a relationship with a machine if the processes are so sophisticated that one feels like one is communicating with another person… This is an extreme scenario that would have an impact on a person’s mental health. But let’s not go to that extreme. Let’s look at where we are currently, which is that we are fully connected. And the easier your life is thanks to technology, the more you want to use it.
“This addiction can lead to psychological problems. Other problems relate to critical thinking, because when you request a summary or specific insight from information you’ve shared with a machine, the problem is that humans are lazy. We tend to believe that the things in front of us are right, which is a very high risk.”
The power of critical thinking must be preserved and promoted, especially in the context of such easily accessible digital tools, she said. Another potential risk that companies should consider is how GenAI will impact how people interact with each other and with companies, which could lead to a shift in the role of organizations. In the future, the number of interactions with companies could be significantly reduced, posing a risk to those companies that currently interact directly with consumers. They need to ask themselves what role they will play in a society that accepts GenAI – and they need to start questioning this now.
How insurance companies can prepare for the future
Fernandez cautioned on how insurance companies can manage the balancing act between opportunities and risks that GenAI brings, noting that a measured approach to the technology is necessary and not to be overwhelmed by the hype surrounding this tool. When a technology emerges, she said, companies need to dive deep into its capabilities and test them.
Companies must also address the fact that the gap between individual employees training to use GenAI effectively and company-wide policies surrounding GenAI use is widening. This gap is growing, she said, and companies need to address it if they want to close the gap because you can’t stop people from using it on their personal devices – rather, the focus needs to be on training employees so that they understand the tool and use it properly.
“The first thing that companies that want to make the most of GenAI need to address at the enterprise level is the need to train employees – and that means retraining all employees, not just those using the algorithm or the technical team – because everyone has to “understand how it works,” she said. “The second important point is to recognize that GenAI is useful for many use cases, but not for all.”
Fernandez’s message is clear: insurance companies cannot afford to be shocked by the hype surrounding GenAI, but rather invest and test to ensure it is only used where it makes sense.
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2024-04-18 19:35:11
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