Many of these professionals aren’t feeling threatened by artificial intelligence technology.
In California, insurance agents have been voicing their concerns over the potential threat artificial intelligence (AI) could have to their jobs. However, in Florida, these professionals seem to feel far more confident that they can offer a great deal that AI cannot.
Florida’s property insurance industry has been struggling for several years due to rising risks and costs.
“Things are getting better. They are,” said Great Florida Insurance owner Gordon Gillespie, who was among the hundreds of agents at the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) annual convention that took place in Orlando earlier this month. The state has been facing a crisis in its property insurance market due to the rising instance of extreme weather due to climate change, combined with increasing rebuilding costs. Insurers have been leaving the state and going into receivership, leaving Citizens Insurance, the state-backed insurer of last resort, as the only option for over a million residents.
At the same time that companies are seeking to reduce costs, artificial intelligence is being considered for a rising number of tasks within the industry. In California, employees are feeling threatened by this technology. The same sentiment doesn’t seem to be as prevalent.
Carriers have been considering using AI for a number of tasks that currently belong to insurance agents.
Industry reports show that carriers and agencies are increasingly using artificial intelligence to complete a broad spectrum of tasks, from providing consumers with quotes to claims management, to coverage underwriting.
A prediction released by Data Bridge Market Research indicates that the global insurance industry will see an increase in AI value by ten times by the end of the decade. That said, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners released a report in December 2022, in which it found that 88 percent of insurers were considering or intended to use AI.
However, many insurance agents at the FAIA convention brushed off the concerns that people would be replaced by AI within their industry.
“Not in Florida. Florida’s too complicated for AI,” said Chapman Insurance Group owner Brian Chapman, whose agency is among the largest in southwest Florida.
