In recent years, the debate around artificial intelligence has shifted from speculation about future capabilities to urgent conversations about real-world impact.
Executive Summary
"The future of AI may not be apocalyptic, but it will be litigated," according to Moody's executives.While AI has not yet delivered a leap in capability equivalent to its hype, it is already generating litigation trends that demand close attention from underwriters, claims specialists and risk managers alike. In fact, if, as one court ruled, chatbots are legally considered products, not services, then AI developers could find themselves facing the same kinds of litigation that reshaped the tobacco, pharmaceutical and social media industries, they write.
On one end of the spectrum, technologists have warned of existential risks associated with rapidly advancing AI agents. On the other, critics have urged caution against overhyping a technology that, while powerful, is not immune to the regulatory, economic and ethical constraints that shape all innovation.
For insurers focused on casualty exposure, this evolution has brought AI squarely into the domain of “normal technology.” That is, a class of innovation like chemicals, pharmaceuticals and digital platforms before it, that diffuses gradually through the economy, with risk and responsibility emerging along the way. While AI has not yet delivered a leap in capability equivalent to its hype, it is already generating litigation trends that demand close attention from underwriters, claims specialists and risk managers alike.
