The debate over artificial intelligence's role in HR--from recruiting to workforce planning to performance--has become moot: There's no doubt that AI has arrived and is expanding rapidly in the HR space. But, not so fast, some experts say. While AI represents a fantastic opportunity to drive HR success (and by extension, bottom-line growth), ethical issues tied to AI represent a potential dark side of these technologies. The good news is, chief HR and people officers can successfully navigate this rapidly changing, growing trend by steering clear of those ethical speed bumps in the first place. They must take a smart, steady, planned approach to circumvent negative outcomes.

Loughborough University and the Willis Research Network (WRN) would like to invite you to another conference bringing together a range of perspectives on the business application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its role in the ongoing digital transformation of the insurance industry. The goal is to look beyond the day to day business decision-making and examine the broader challenges of employing AI, the implication for business models and to address some of the organisational and public policy challenges to effective use of these new technologies. We will have a mix of top university researchers and industry practitioners participating as both presenters and panellists to enhance our depth of knowledge around AI and the use of AI in our industry. We look forward to welcoming you to a stimulating day of open debate and insightful discussion. The conference is the first major event organised by the TECHNGI research project, hosted by Loughborough University and Willis Towers Watson and funded from the UK Government Industry Challenge Fund's Next Generation Services program.

Discussion around the impact of intelligent automation often centers on what it means for consumers, or its implications for the workplace and the changing nature of jobs. But what does it mean in practice for finance professionals? As the CFO of an S&P 500 company with more than three decades of finance and business experience, I find that the aspect of robotics and artificial intelligence that has most surprised me is the extent to which we have come to implement these technologies in corporate finance. Digital transformation to this degree is something that has been talked about for years. Now, however, seeing the impact on the individual, day-to-day functions of my team makes transformation seem much more real.

Willis Towers Watson, the global advisory, broking and solutions company, and Relativity6, Inc., a machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) insurance-technology company, recently announced that Willis Towers Watson has selected the Relativity6 platform to predict and optimise customer retention and win-back.

Willis Towers Watson, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, and Relativity6, Inc., a machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) insurance-technology company, today announced that Willis Towers Watson has selected the Relativity6 platform to predict and optimise customer retention and win-back. Brent Lehmann, General Manager Affinity & Commercial Australasia said the partnership with such an innovative technology company will help to ensure Willis Towers Watson remains competitive in the marketplace. "Relativity6's product offerings are a good fit to accomplish our strategic objectives across the organisation, so we are very excited to partner with them to take full advantage of the data that we have accumulated within our core systems in Australia." Alan Ringvald, Chief Executive Officer at Relativity 6, commented: "We are honoured to partner with such a distinguished organization. We believe that our solution will enable Willis Towers Watson to better serve their customers and ultimately drive significant top line revenue growth. We've engaged with top-tier insurers in the U.S. and Latin America, and this is a fantastic opportunity to expand our footprint with a truly global insurance broking brand."

A December 2017 survey by insurance and risk management advisory firm Willis Towers Watson in Arlington, Virginia, found that U.S. companies will nearly double the amount of work done by automation (to 17%) within the next three years. Ninety-four percent of companies that are already using robotics and AI will expand their use of automation by 2020. Related: What Will It Be Like To Have Robot Coworkers? But are companies ready for those changes? Maybe not, the survey found.

Willis Towers Watson's insurance consulting business works with major insurers and other financial services companies around the world on issues that range from economic capital and regulatory change to the intricacies of hedging and other forms of asset-liability management. You will deliver high quality work for our broad set of UK clients, working on projects including behavioural modelling, price optimisation, financial risk modelling and big data analytics. You will join a team that works with a huge variety of leading financial institutions across the world, including almost all of the top UK insurers as well as intermediaries, data and software houses and other financial and non-financial organisations. You will have immediate exposure to real client assignments which will draw on your imagination and creativity as well as your ability to analyse data, draw insight and present results. These experiences will help build on your technical knowledge as well as deliver high profile projects to household name clients.

George Zarkadakis is a thought-leader in digital innovation, digital transformation, and most importantly for us, Artificial Intelligence. He's now the Digital Lead at Willis Towers Watson, a world leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, and he has even written a book on AI, called In Our Own Image: Will artificial intelligence save or destroy us?. Zarkadakis took some time to talk to us about how AI was being implemented in businesses today, and how it will change our industry of the future. We started off our conversation with Zarkadakis by asking him how is Willis Towers Watson currently uses AI in their business strategy. "We have been pioneering machine learning applications in insurance for some time now, developing AI solutions for talent analytics, and have been piloting robotic process automation too," he answered.

As we age, we feel we've acquired wisdom from life's varied experiences. Machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence designed to recognize patterns that escape our attention. IBM Watson is assisting Swiss Re by enhancing understanding of potential loss exposures. Chubb 4D, a cognitive computing system, can discern possible fraudulent activities by third parties and identify factors affecting claims severity. Machine learning offers the means for insurance carriers and brokerages to augment the knowledge needed to make sharp underwriting, claims management, customer service and other profit-making decisions.

AI Business recently interviewed one of the UK's leading experts in AI for Business, George Zarkadakis. George has a PhD in AI, is the Digital Lead at Willis Towers Watson, and the author of "In Our Own Image: will Artificial Intelligence save us or destroy us?". George is also a keynote speaker at The AI Summit London, presenting on the many different ways that AI will be shaping the business of tomorrow. George answered a number of interesting questions giving us a taster of the insightful presentation to come at The AI Summit on the 5th of May. How do you believe AI will impact business overall and in what ways?