By Solmaz Altin, Managing Director, Strategic Business Group, Prudential
In the not-so-distant future, the life insurance customer experience will be hyper-personalised and seamless, driven by the combination of human and artificial intelligence (AI).
Imagine this. You’re walking along the streets of Singapore when you see a notification on your phone informing you that you’re about to enter a dengue red zone. It also asks how long you’ll be in the area for and if you would like to purchase a dengue protection policy for the same duration. You tap “Yes” and you receive coverage in a matter of seconds.
This experience is completely seamless and instant, with tailored recommendations based on real-time data. In this case, you are paying for coverage as you go. There is no filling of forms as they are auto-populated with your data (released to the company with consent). And if you wish to speak with someone for further advice on the options presented to you, a financial consultant is available at just a tap of a button.
Should the need for claims occur, a similar fuss-free and seamless process kicks in. The data-driven algorithms allow qualifying beneficiaries and the veracity of incidents to be confirmed. Most importantly, payouts are issued without delay and with pinpoint accuracy via blockchain.
All this is possible through the collaboration between humans and machines, and the insurance industry has started to integrate such sophisticated AI and data technologies more closely with their operations.
Humanising tech
Yet it is not just about the technology. Humans remain at the heart of it all. We are strong advocates of humanising technologies – using tech not to replace but to enhance decision-making and to empower authentic human connections.
While people may have grown accustomed to accessing products and services completely online during the pandemic, human empathy is vital especially when it comes to the big decisions in life: How to protect your family, how to retire adequately and save for your children’s education. Bringing together AI and humans results in augmented intelligence to deliver better outcomes.
We view tech as an enabler to allow humans to do more and to connect more. This could be at the frontend: enabling agents with tools to increase productivity so that they can focus on engaging the customer, and feeding them with data-driven insights to start authentic conversations on disease risks for customers. Or at the backend: supporting claims assessors in risk monitoring, and helping underwriters to come to a decision much more quickly by providing AI-backed recommendations.
Creating a segment of one, for all
Closely related to this is using tech to serve customers better – and one way is through hyper-personalisation. The world today is moving to one of hyper-personalisation and this does not just mean your scrawled name across a Starbucks cup. It’s your preferred genre of movie and the cuisine that whets your appetite, served on a platter in real time. It is relevant product and service recommendations that celebrate your uniqueness.
The best companies create “segments of one” – targeting each consumer as distinct individuals to give the right information, at the right time and at the right place.
According to McKinsey, personalisation is expected by 71 per cent of consumers today. Surely, if personalisation is demanded in areas of leisure, then it has to be applied in something as central as life insurance. And more will be expected by customers as technologies improve over time.
But capturing and utilising personalised customer data at scale and using it to understand and optimise the customer journey may arguably be easier when picking out their travel destination of choice rather than their predisposition to lung cancer. The former takes a cue from past travel and personal history, the latter has to be extrapolated based on complex biological and epidemiological factors.
Helping consumers make the most of life
While AI and data may not quite be at the point where we can effectively derive actuarial assumptions that impact premiums, what we can do with the technology is to nudge consumers towards a healthier lifestyle.
We do this based on aggregate – not personal – data collated from our millions of customers, allowing us to recommend lifestyle and health solutions based on lifestyle preferences, health stages and savings habits. This is already carried out in Thailand, where more than 17 million can access AI-driven services through our health and wellness app Pulse to help them get the most out of life.
With such data, AI has the potential to inform users of their propensity to contract diseases such as diabetes. This affects 90 million adults in Southeast Asia and the number is expected to hit 113 million by the end of the decade. As AI-powered smart nudges tweak diets and exercise plans, we can slow these numbers.
Intrinsically linked to life insurance is the need for consumers to understand their health and have access to telemedicine or diagnosis if necessary. About half of the world’s population do not have easy access to essential healthcare. Many of these people reside in Asia and Africa – where Prudential is focused on – across islands and mountainous regions, and our aim is to empower consumers with apps that have telemedicine capabilities.
Ethical AI
While the sector continues to push the frontiers on tech use, we are also highly attuned to protecting customers’ needs. It requires tremendous deliberation when introducing any AI initiatives as we consider whether they bring value to the customer, abide by regulations and respect user privacy. For example, we look at issues of fairness – whether the AI programmes treat people fairly and avoid unfair discrimination.
Other questions continue to swirl when it comes to AI assistance, such as “What is the optimal level of engagement”? There needs to be a fine balance struck between making timely, helpful recommendations and being intrusive.
As these technologies develop, there will be more areas of ambiguity and challenge, which requires further adaptation. But the risk of not leveraging technology’s strengths to improve millions of lives is greater. Finding our way in this space is the prudential thing to do.