Aon to roll out generative AI platform for employees

Tools expected to grant a "competitive advantage"

Aon to roll out generative AI platform for employees

Technology

By Gia Snape

Aon is set to roll out its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for employees this year, Insurance Business has learned.

“By the end of 2024, all our Aon colleagues will have individual access to our own AI platform,” said Aon Canada president Stéphane Lespérance.

The internal platform looks set to include a large language model (LLM) and other tools that will help Aon’s workforce streamline daily tasks.

“We have been developing our own tool to facilitate some searches because we have so many products, so many solutions,” Lespérance said.

Aon’s generative AI platform to give ‘competitive advantage’

One of the key uses of Aon’s upcoming generative AI platform is as a tool for policy language comparisons.

“It will enable you to compare two wordings received from two carriers, immediately highlighting the differences for you. We will be able to compare content,” said Lespérance.

“If you want to compare what’s best for the clients, you can put two wordings into the tool, and it develops a comparison and other information that you can put into a presentation for the client, so you don’t need to retype information. That’s going to save time for our brokers, producers, and back-office people.”

The internal platform aims to give the global brokerage a “competitive advantage” in the market, added Lespérance.

The rollout will happen in stages across Aon’s regions, he said, but Aon Canada employees would be able to use the platform by year-end.

Insurance companies embracing generative AI tools

Aon is the latest global insurance player to introduce a generative AI platform into its workflow. Over the past year, businesses such as Swiss Re and Munich Re have announced they were exploring use cases for generative AI technology.

In April, Chubb said it was preparing to roll out AI tools “at scale.” Meanwhile, specialty insurance provider CFC confirmed that it has adopted large language models for use in everyday workflows.

Global claims solutions provider Sedgwick has also weaved generative AI applications into its business. Sedgwick’s global chief digital officer, Leah Cooper, spoke to Insurance Business about “tactfully and responsibly” incorporating new technology into its ecosystem.

Technology experts and insurance leaders have expressed caution as the industry embraced LLMs, popularized by ChatGPT.

In November, MAPFRE CEO and chairman Antonio Huertas added his voice to calls for legislation around AI and ethics. EY’s global insurance leader, Isabelle Santenac, flagged the potential misuse of generative AI as an emerging risk for the industry.

“How do you ensure you’re using it in an ethical way and in a way that’s compliant with regulation, in particular with data privacy laws? How do you ensure you don’t have bias in the models you use? How do you ensure the data you’re using to feed your models is safe and correct?” Santenac said during an interview with Insurance Business. 

“It’s a topic that’s creating a lot of challenges for the industry to tackle.”

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