Will AI disrupt our industry?

Three years after its launch, ChatGPT is a household name. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is as common a topic at the dinner table as it is in the boardroom, and we are all figuring out how to use this revolutionary technology.

If you’re “AI-curious” like me, you’re probably experimenting with ChatGPT or its rivals to see firsthand where AI excels and where it falls short. Large language models like ChatGPT aren’t designed for accuracy; they are built for creation. Naturally, they excel at helping to reword emails or suggest travel itineraries but often get it wrong when asked for precision or nuance (warning: they confidently provide incorrect information!).

At Trinity, we talk about using them to brainstorm by asking questions on unusual risks or to improve marketing documents. Many companies are looking at AI-driven underwriting solutions for workflow automation and increased efficiency. But this raises the questions: what is AI’s true role in underwriting, and what implications does that have for the industry as a whole?

When the internet emerged, with search engines and Wikipedia, it democratized access to information. Anyone can find answers (almost) instantly, so differentiation no longer comes from who knows more, but from who does more with that information. AI is similar in that it changes differentiators for companies and individuals alike, and levels the playing field again.

Now, anyone can write a university-level essay or ask what niches generate the best ROI in the next 12 months. Anyone can use it to collaborate on a marketing strategy or email wording with just a few prompts. It is how we use it that differentiates us in the end.

Let’s pretend for a minute that insurers automate a substantial part of the underwriting pathway, and that the AI models are reasonably accurate. Every model has access to similar information and therefore produces similar underwriting results, so products commoditize quickly. Speed and price become table stakes. At first, loss ratios improve but then level off as margins shrink due to competition in the market. SME client behaviour shifts to direct buying. Brokers find it harder to add value. AI cannot build goodwill, so insurance could become another click-to-buy commodity, extremely transactional.

Before we start building bunkers, consider what makes this industry unique. Insurance is, and always has been, a relationship business, and AI can’t do that. AI can’t read the room, can’t recognize when a client’s hesitation hides a deeper concern, or sense what tones signal opportunity.

AI enhances underwriting and pushes us toward smarter decision-making. But it doesn’t replace judgment, intuition, or the uniquely human ability to connect.

So, will AI replace us all? No. But if used properly, it changes how we underwrite and redefines what makes us valuable ultimately bringing differentiation back to what this industry is all about – building trust in each other.

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