Supercharge Breakfast Sessions: unleashing the power of technology, AI and behavioural science

Key takeaways from the day

• AI can redefine the way we interact with clients and within our organisations.
• AI products must keep human needs at the forefront. 
• As users become more familiar with AI, their expectations rise. 
• Machines are becoming intuitive and natural to interact with, which means they can interpret and align with your thinking. 
• Consumer sentiment around AI is split into four main sentiments
  • 24% see AI as futuristic, linked to robots and science fiction.
  • 23% express worries and fears about AI.
  • 19% feel excited and enthusiastic about AI.
  • 12% believe AI will be useful in various tasks.

Unlocking business success with behavioural economics

With 15-years of experience in behavioural economics and finance, Paula Papp opened with her talk "Behavioural science and AI: An exploration for digital innovators". She explored how AI promises better user experiences, cost efficiency, and transformative interactions within organisations and with clients.

Improve human-AI interaction

Successful technologies now gain widespread use faster than ever, causing shifts in competition and markets. AI introduces unique elements in this transition, which are not yet fully understood or appreciated. We're moving from human-human interaction towards human-AI interaction, transitioning from rigid, rule-based systems to adaptive, autonomous ones. 

Understanding how people react to AI versus humans is key. A behavioural perspective is vital. Instead of asking, observing actions is essential, as initial fears may evolve into acceptance over time. These behavioural economics techniques are instrumental in achieving a smooth AI implementation. To succeed, observe not only your customers but also AI itself. 

Crafting exceptional product experiences

Next, Matt Dunn, our very own Innovation Consultant at Supercharge, took centre stage. His speech focused on going beyond an AI approach that ends with ChatGPT integration, and answering the question “How do we use human needs to create better AI products?”

Achieve better results by merging human needs with AI

Behavioural design is essential for creating user-friendly products that influence behaviour. Utilise these techniques when developing AI applications to positively change how your users interact with them.

Building valuable AI products requires an understanding of human quirks. You also need to determine AI's level of control through various autonomy levels: Higher autonomy can leverage AI to improve the customer experience by addressing human irrationality.

To create excellent products, prioritise human needs, tackle behavioural challenges, and employ AI autonomy levels for innovative solutions. Avoid being limited by existing applications or conventional implementations.

Live panel: Behavioural economics, insurance and data in AI

We ended the morning with a live panel, talking through real-life scenarios and experiences to help our attendees embrace powerful technologies like generative AI and GPT. Our panellists gave practical takeaways. 

We asked our panel the following:

“Can Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) remain a viable business model if it becomes the default way to offer auto insurance? Should insurance companies start penalising risky driving to balance discounts?”

• James mentioned the example of Vitality and how UBI can work based on his experience.
• Phil discussed the psychology of penalising and the challenges of implementing penalties for risky behaviour.
• Elena, with a background in AI Ethics, shared insights from the perspective of ethics and philosophy.

Referring to Matt Dunn’s examination of how automation can reduce operational expenses, decrease errors, and even improve the customer experience, we asked: 

“How much power are insurance companies willing to give to AI, especially in the context of generative AI? Will AI primarily inform and support human decisions, or will it make decisions and automate workflows?”

• Phil spoke about the trialling of AI, improving its capabilities, and the potential for call deflection.
• Elena emphasised the idea of human-powered AI and the importance of upskilling teams.
• James explored how there is big potential in insurance for streamlining processes and automating decisions.

Finally, we put our minds to the future. Since technology advances so quickly, there is no value in trying to guess what will happen in 5 years' time. Instead we turned our attention to the next few years: 

‘In the near future (1-2 years), what should the insurance industry be mindful of as technology rapidly advances? What are the pitfalls and limitations of building generative AI-based solutions within the insurance industry?”

• James pointed out that risk factors – especially those related to AI deployment – and outcomes will dominate the insurance industry because there is no regulation around AI other than financial. 
• Phil highlighted the challenge of expecting your customers to be able to help guide companies through this AI landscape because customers don’t know what they want.
• Elena recommended practical solutions, including prompt engineering, and stressed the constantly changing nature of technology.

Don't miss out on the next breakfast event

Want to make sure you stay in the loop for our upcoming breakfast sessions? Keen for a chance to connect with industry leaders and explore the AI trends that will help shape the future of insurance?

Watch for event announcements and be part of the conversation at our next gathering.