By SenseRisk, your 5*-rated, highly trusted, Bristol based insurance broker
CII urges insurance sector to strengthen AI skills and governance
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded within insurance and financial services, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) has highlighted the importance of ensuring that people’s skills develop alongside the technology.
The CII has warned of an “AI fluency gap”, with firms potentially adopting AI faster than their employees develop the knowledge needed to understand, question and govern its use responsibly. Its report, Responsible AI: from policy to practice, followed discussions with representatives from Chartered firms, technology, academia and other professional bodies.
How AI Can Support SMEs
- Automating repetitive admin and data entry
- Drafting emails, reports and marketing content
- Summarising documents and large amounts of information
- Responding to common customer queries
- Identifying patterns and trends in business data
- Helping teams work more efficiently
Training colleagues to use AI well
Rather than focusing solely on how to use AI tools, the CII suggests that training should help professionals develop critical thinking, professional scepticism and the confidence to challenge automated outputs. It also warns that simply having a “human in the loop” is not necessarily an adequate safeguard if that person does not have the knowledge or authority to question an AI-generated outcome.
This raises a wider question for the insurance profession and all organisations:
As AI takes on more routine work, how do we make sure people continue to develop the skills that experience traditionally provides?
This question applies to all sectors of the UK economy as we use Ai more and more to improve efficiency and productivity within businesses. Matthew Hill, CEO of the CII, has raised concerns about how junior colleagues develop judgement as AI becomes more prominent in the workplace. His focus has been on ensuring new entrants have opportunities to learn from experienced professionals and develop the judgement and intuition that comes from observing experienced leaders.
There is, however, another way of looking at the changing role of junior employees. If AI reduces the amount of time spent on repetitive or administrative tasks, it could create more opportunity to focus on communication, problem-solving and other interpersonal skills. But that does not remove the need for technical knowledge and the practical experience that is essential for knowing the industry. Employers will need to think carefully about how those skills are developed when some of the traditional routes to gaining experience are changing.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply deciding whether to use AI
The challenge is finding the right balance between gaining the efficiencies technology can offer and maintaining the human expertise, accountability and professional judgement on which the professions rely. In the insurance industry, the CII has committed to supporting the insurance profession through areas including practical AI policy frameworks, continuing professional development, benchmarking, maturity models and practical resources, alongside wider work with professional and trade bodies on governance and standards; this can only benefit insurance clients.
All industries need to adjust staff development programs
Across industry the message is an important one. Investment in AI cannot be viewed in isolation from investment in people. As the technology develops, maintaining professional knowledge, encouraging people to question its outputs and providing meaningful opportunities for junior colleagues to learn will remain essential.
Ultimately, AI may change how professionals work, but experience, judgement and accountability will continue to matter.
Read the CII Article here: https://www.cii.co.uk/news-insight/insight/articles/cii-says-critical-ai-fluency-gap-in-sector-could-undermine-responsible-adoption/84f8e1a2-9e1e-4ce7-9b40-11bfdfddc0b8