Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT, the chatbot developed by OpenAI, has taken the business world by storm. Following this success, Microsoft has increased its investment in OpenAI and has launched a new version of its search engine Bing that provides users with generated answers in response to searches, as opposed to providing them with thousands of links to choose from. Not surprisingly, Google, as the incumbent in the search engine market, quickly reacted and is launching Bard, its own attempt to create an AI chatbot leveraging the power of large language models and integrate it into the search process. Moving beyond search, both Google and Microsoft are now making their chatbots available through an API (application programming interface, a form of a protocol), thereby enabling software developers from other firms to integrate their systems with these new chatbots. From finance to healthcare and from education to travel, industry observers expect an explosion of service innovations and new digital user experiences. Leveraging the capabilities of large language models, chatbots have developed amazing capabilities to generate human-like responses, and to speak in different languages and styles.

Forward-looking insurers are using AI to innovate insurance processes like claims to keep up with customer demand for a 24/7 digital experience, while boosting operational efficiency. And conversational assistants, such as chatbots, are one of the most prevalent applications of AI used to accomplish this. But for customers to embrace the tech, chatbots need to drive a good conversational experience that mimics human agents, and bots must have access to relevant customer information to successfully address their requests. To that end, insurer Zurich UK worked with white-label chatbot provider Spixii to expand its initially limited digital capabilities to provide customers with an immediate way of declaring claims. The insurer knew it had to meet customer demand for an "always-on" digital experience around claims, and while it likely identified chatbots as a good solution from both a time-to-market and budgeting perspective, it needed to ensure the tech would provide a cohesive experience across online and offline channels.