ORLANDO, Florida – Generative artificial intelligence offers insurance industry organizations the opportunity to augment human expertise and significantly enhance and accelerate numerous tasks in claims and underwriting, a Google Inc. executive said.

The shift from traditional artificial intelligence, which has been in existence for 80 years and helped users in decision-making, to generative AI, which became widely available in 2022, allows companies to use technology for creative tasks and problem-solving, said Sebastian Antony, London-based head of global account strategy and financial services industry in UKI for cap market, health and commercial insurance, legal accounts at Google.

He was speaking Thursday as the opening keynote at the World Captive Forum in Orlando, which is sponsored by Business Insurance.

Artificial intelligence has long been able to tap huge amounts of data and computer processing power has increased exponentially for years, but generative AI’s ability to process human language has transformed the technology’s use, Mr. Antony said.

“Artificial intelligence today has cracked the human code of communication,” he said.

For example, you can instantly translate 220 languages using generative AI on your phone, Mr. Antony said.

For the insurance industry, generative AI can transform numerous tasks, according to Mr. Antony, including:

• Public website navigation, to search for underwriting information.
• Check submissions against an insurer’s underwriting appetite for the risk.
• Check claims against policy wordings.
• Automate information retrieval for recurring business processes.
• Interpret regulations and identify potential violations.
• Automation of customer service tasks.
• Generate statutory filings.
• Creative assistance, such as bespoke images.
• Accelerated research.
• Developing code to make computer engineering more efficient.

AI can also be used to speed up claims processing, Mr. Antony said.

For example, dashcam video of an auto accident can be uploaded and generative AI can be used to answer questions about the details of the accident and who was at fault, he said.

“What we’re trying to do here is not trying to replace the human, but we’re trying to augment the human with information that is accurate, which you can then modify, and you can put the guardrails around,” he said.

As generative AI is developed, it will become more refined using smaller data sets to target specific industries, Mr. Antony said.