Insurance companies are understandably wary when it comes to introducing AI into their workflows. There’s a big opportunity to leverage AI and data to help underwriters or claims adjudicators make better decisions, but trusting AI to guide decision making is also an area of risk.
Consider some of the stories that have made national headlines for improper use of AI. UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, and Humana all face lawsuits for using AI models that allegedly wrongly denied claims.
Despite understandable concerns, AI offers insurers a massive opportunity to gain a leg up on the competition. Carriers of all sizes are being tasked with exploring how they can safely and effectively introduce AI into their processes to operate more efficiently.
So how can insurers determine the right place to deploy AI? Consider the customer and agent experience. AI presents a solution to help frontline teams handle high call volumes even while battling staff shortages.
Empower Frontline Employees with AI
Many insurance service centers are dealing with rising call volumes while simultaneously struggling to adequately staff their service operations. A historically tight labor market is making finding and retaining customer service reps to handle these calls increasingly challenging.
Insurers looking for a high-impact, low-risk area to deploy AI should consider how they can leverage the technology to help their frontline teams and managers be more productive.
For instance, service reps typically have to bounce between multiple systems to find answers to customer inquiries. Some of the latest AI innovations enable carriers to serve up approved, recommended responses to reps, shortening the time to respond and reducing the average handle time of interactions.
Another productivity example is using AI to complete interaction wrap-up details automatically. Whether you’re already requiring reps to complete post-interaction surveys or haven’t been able to spare the important minutes following an interaction to wrap-ups, purpose-built AI can help automatically summarize interactions.
These interaction wrap-ups provide the business with rich insights on every customer and agent interaction, all without requiring reps or underwriters to spend valuable time manually keying in the data. Even better, your reps and underwriters have complete oversight over the AI-generated surveys, giving them the final approval and chance to make any needed adjustments before the data is stored away.
Satisfy Customers with Quick, Easy Responses
In addition to enabling customer service reps to be more efficient, insurance carriers also have an opportunity to reduce the number of interactions that require human intervention by strategically deploying AI.
Not all customer engagements require human-to-human interaction. Tasks like checking the status of a claim or finding who your claims adjuster is are ripe for automation. Unlike the process of filing a claim, where empathy and in-depth conversation about what happened is typically required, customers are seeking a quick and simple response for these types of inquiries.
Why force customers to potentially wait on hold for a quick claims status update? And why pull your claims service reps away from more impactful work to handle these requests if a virtual assistant can handle it?
Insurity’s 2024 AI in Insurance Report found consumers are wary of AI being used for claims management or underwriting policies, but were more open to carriers leveraging AI for customer service. Insureds are willing to engage with AI so long as it’s providing a positive experience.
By identifying an area where AI can reliably assist customers at a high rate, such as providing an update on the status of a claim, carriers can provide faster service to customers while simultaneously freeing up service reps to spend more time on those moments that matter when the human touch is needed.
Find the Right Responsible AI Partner
Carriers shouldn’t feel like they have to wade into the AI waters alone. Part of successfully leveraging AI capabilities is identifying the right partner who can help you safely and responsibly introduce AI into your business.
When considering who to work with, look for a partner who provides purpose-built, trusted solutions in the insurance space. Find a solution that puts emphasis on Responsible AI, that focuses on safety and human involvement above everything else.
Customer and agent interactions present a golden opportunity to leverage AI to drive huge efficiencies for the business, and the carriers who seize the opportunity will gain a significant leg up on their competitors.