Three digital technology providers announced the launch of the Ethical AI in Insurance Consortium as a means to help guide the insurance industry toward a responsible and ethical future using AI.

Cloverleaf Analytics, an insurance technology provider; Exavalu, a digital transformation advisor; and Socotra, an integration platform provider, launched the new consortium to address challenges and opportunities associated with utilizing AI in insurance, including algorithmic bias, customer acceptance, data integrity, selling, servicing and customer support for insurance products.

Its aim is to foster responsible and transparent adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) for decision management in the insurance sector, bringing together insurance carriers, technology and solutions companies, regulators, and others involved in the industry.

The Consortium’s core objectives include the creation of ethical technology development and operations guidelines; advocacy for insurers and the insured; collaboration and knowledge-sharing; and standardization.

“Advancements in AI technology offer a high promise but often challenge carriers with how to utilize AI effectively and ethically for decision support,” said Abby Hosseini, chief digital officer at Exavalu.

“This uncertainty coupled with excitement about the promise of Generative AI is resulting in some carriers struggling with algorithmic bias and the proper orchestration of the AI technology for inline augmented decision-making,” she said. “Many carriers are embarking on controlled experiments while others sit on the sidelines. The Consortium is about empowering carriers to achieve real value from AI while ensuring fair, high-quality, transparent and innovative products and services for the insured. This can be achieved through people-centric, fair, trustworthy and responsible business practices to model development, analytics and risk management.”

Initial major initiatives for the Consortium are the development of an Ethical AI in Insurance Code of Ethics and the launch of a research project based on a survey of insurance executives determining attitudes, readiness, use of Generative AI, large language models and machine vision.

“The adoption of fresh technology is a critical component of any insurer’s strategy for market leadership and differentiation, and it must be done responsibly, with as much knowledge and perspective as possible,” said Michael Benayoun, director of Partnerships at Socotra. “The Consortium will be a strategic asset for carriers to learn best practices as they leave legacy technologies behind while strategically deriving meaningful benefits from the cloud and AI.”

Additional founding members will be announced in the coming weeks.

The group plans quarterly webinars addressing key issues and published articles announcing new standards guidelines, along with thought leadership papers throughout the year.

Results of its Generative AI readiness, attitude and adoption survey will be revealed during a webinar with other members in early Q4.

While Cloverleaf sparked the idea for the Consortium, it will not have any additional influence on the projects the group completes over any other member.

“The insurance industry has the opportunity to set a quality example of how to use AI responsibly, and this Consortium aims to be a beacon of light for insurers and technology companies that need help on this journey,” said Robert Clark, Founder and CEO of Cloverleaf Analytics.