Artificial intelligence can transform insurer communications, but the technology must be treated with appropriate care and have human oversight, an Insurance News webinar was told.

The webinar – What Good Looks Like: Rethinking Insurance Communications in the AI Era – focused on how insurers can turn around communication with customers that too often is “fragmented and failing”.

The 45-minute session, which you can watch below, featured Quadient enterprise account manager Mani Raman and Jamie Smith, adviser at Leaders on Demand. It was hosted by Insurance News editor-in-chief John Deex.

Issues tackled by the panel included the importance of effective communication and what insurers should be prioritising, plus a discussion flagging common mistakes.

The webinar also addressed the growing influence of AI and how it is likely to change the game.

Mr Raman said AI should be an aid, not a replacement.

“The role of a human in a communications process, as far as I can see in the near future, is not going to go away,” he told the audience.

“People are not going to replace a communications platform with an automated AI capability, because regardless of how much training you give the AI, you are not 100% confident that what is being sent out is going to be compliant, on brand, empathetic.

“You can certainly use AI to help you be all of those things, but it is not going to replace a human.”

Mr Smith said AI needs to be treated like human employees.

“AI is great and it is going to change the shape of lots of organisations, hopefully for the better in most cases,” he said.

“But just be careful where you are putting it. Treat it like labour.

“Don’t let it sneak into the organisation through the back door like a software services agreement, it has to come through the front door – it needs a proper job description, it needs a role, it needs a supervisor so it can be looked at and reviewed. It needs the ability to get rid of it if it’s not doing the right thing.”