German insurers follow global trend to artificial intelligence

Algorithms and supercomputers are revolutionizing the insurance industry. Germany has no intention of being left behind. The Bavarian dialect is difficult even for native German speakers in other parts of the country to understand, but IBM's Watson artificial intelligence application easily deciphers calls from customers of Bavarian insurer VKB. More responsive customer service is just one way AI is transforming staid German insurers as they undergo a digital revolution that is changing everything from how quickly claims can be paid to figuring out who is trying to defraud the company. "Insurers, banks, financial services as we know them today won't exist in 10 to 15 years," Christian Rieck, professor at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, wrote in a recent book about robots in finance.