Insurance Australia Group (IAG), selling insurance under brands such as NRMA, CGU, and SGIO, has announced implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into its claims process.
Through AI, IAG is predicting whether a motor vehicle is a total loss after a car accident, which it touts can remove the need for a vehicle to be towed to a repairer prior to being assessed as a total loss.
The tech combines AI with automation. IAG said the use of AI has reduced insurance claims processing times from over three weeks to a few days.
IAG director of analytics Hannah Sakai said predictive total loss, which was developed in-house, was created to help reduce the emotional impact of a car accident by providing customers with more clarity and certainty sooner in the claims experience.
"A car accident can be a traumatic and challenging time for our customers, so we turned to artificial intelligence to help improve this experience," she said.
"Our predictive total loss solution leverages machine learning to detect a potential total loss with more than 90% accuracy, using information provided by the customer when they make a claim on the phone with a consultant or online."
Sakai said the customer is notified of the potential total loss outcome via text message the following day.
She also said the predictive total loss model is one of many AI applications being developed by the company's in-house data scientists, out of its AI Centre of Excellence.
"Using an internal team allows us to leverage our unique business knowledge to tailor the experience to our customers," Sakai added.
IAG said predictive total loss was evaluated using the Australian government's voluntary AI ethics principles to identify potential issues or risks prior to go-live.
The federal government in November 2019 published the eight AI principles