It’s always a pleasure when you ask someone a question and you get a direct answer instead of hemming and hawing. Millions of insurance customers know the pain of contacting their carrier’s customer service department and getting absolutely nowhere. Is it possible that a
new computer from IBM could someday change that?
I’m not advocating the complete removal of the human element from customer service, but if Watson takes off—and does anyone really believe it won’t take off within the next decade—we could see the day when policyholders ask questions of a carrier’s computer and gets short, succinct answers.
To show you how far this has come, IBM’s Watson will compete on the televised game show Jeopardy! sometime in February. Watson will have its database full as one of the opponents is Ken Jennings, considered the greatest Jeopardy! player of all time.
Insurers love automated underwriting, particularly in the personal lines area of the property/casualty world. You can supply business rules to your system and eliminate manual intervention.
But what will happen when a policyholder calls and asks a computer a question about coverage? Having a computer compete with humans on a game show is a fun concept, but where does automation end in the workplace? It certainly won’t end in the IT shop. Someone’s got to program them, right?
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If you’re not in Christmas mode yet, I’ll remind you that we’re just 10 days away. Here at Tech Decisions’ worldwide headquarters, we’re having our office Christmas party today, so here’s an early Christmas present for you. Enjoy.