Marine insurers could be left behind in dash to AI

MARINE insurance risks being high and dry as artificial intelligence transforms the wider insurance scene, the International Union of Marine Insuranceconference has been told.

The remarks from Rahul Khanna, global head of marine risk consulting at Allianz, were delivered at the event’s data and digitalisation forum.

Khanna, who chairs the forum, argued that AI application had seen as much meaningful improvement in the past year as was witnessed in the past five years combined.

“As an industry, we need to keep pace with this change or we run the risk of being left behind,” he told delegates.

“If we don’t get onboard with this new technology now, it might be too late. In five years’ time, our workspace is going to look very different.”

The audience was told that the maritime supply chain as a whole is primed for innovation.

Fragmented and inconsistent documentation remains a significant hurdle at present.

But AI solutions are already streamlining not only the documentation process but also the processes of sending, receiving, and storing paperwork.

Within marine insurance, AI is expected to integrate brokers and underwriters more closely, generating synergies.

“As marine insurers, we need to keep an open mind and embrace AI into our world. However, we also need to recognise that we will be responsible for building the AI models and we must do this ethically and conscientiously,” Khanna said.