The insurance industry will lose thousands of jobs - one in every five - to robots and automation, a KPMG report says today. More than half of the insurance decision makers surveyed predicted that 20% of jobs would be lost to automation and robots in next five years. "Sectors such as insurance are investing heavily in automation, with over half of IT leaders in this sector reporting that they are either piloting or implementing AI or machine learning," said Albert Ellis, chief executive of Harvey Nash, which partnered on the survey. "Claims processing, policy issuance, administrative tasks – these are all clearly functions ripe for AI." Insurance Times 2025 event will discuss talent and job replacement. Click here to find details and join the big day.

A report on artificial intelligence and automation from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has made predictions about when and how machines will take over jobs. "The potential substitution of many low- and middle-income jobs could bring extensive unemployment," according to the "The Rise of Artificial Intelligence: Future Outlook and Emerging Risks." As many as 600,000 construction jobs could be on the chopping block when they become automated by 2040, and repetitive positions like those held by postal clerks and travel agents might also become extinct. The effects of AI on insurance are already visible, said Michael Bruch, head of emerging trends at AGCS. "What you are seeing currently is that start-ups are trying to simplify the insurance business model by way of having chatbots, by having automated claims settlements," he explained, adding that tech companies like Lemonade have already changed the game in how claims are processed. "We are looking into sales and industrial sectors, and the claims sector, but also how the underwriter of the future will look. The good message is that we will substitute or replace very simple tasks, so typing in data into any systems – that can be easily automated – and we want to use more data, not only internal data, but external data, to make a faster and better adjustment or assessment of insured risks."