About
Advancements in technology permit insurers to access and exchange massive volumes of structured and unstructured data (aka Big Data). Using big data and artificial intelligence insurers can quickly capture and analyze publicly available data, policyholder’s personal information, as well as third-party sources of information, to categorize risk, prevent fraud losses, and optimize expenses. Today big data is primarily used to influence underwriting, rating, pricing, forms, marketing, and claims handling, each of which has ethical implications. One area in which big data is beginning to show success is in loss prevention and risk resilience. In the early 1900s Benjamin Rush, Chairman of the Board for Insurance Company of North America (INA), made a bold statement regarding the use of his company’s marine claims and underwriting data by declaring, “Helping our insureds to prevent and reduce losses is not just good for business but it is our moral responsibility.” Is it now time for the industry to make a paradigm shift and explore this idea of a “moral responsibility” to prevent loss and help policyholder resilience through the use of big data? We will discuss this important issue using recent examples of the use of big data.
Presented by the Ethics Committee