Seven major insurers, including AIA, AXA and HSBC Life, on Monday signed a pledge and joined a Hong Kong Insurance Authority programme to promote the adoption of artificial intelligence in the sector to enhance the city as a regional AI hub.
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FWD, Prudential, YF Life, and China Taiping Insurance (HK) also signed the pledge during a ceremony at Cyberport. Each company will establish and staff an AI centre in Hong Kong to develop innovations for use across the region.
The seven insurers are the first to join the authority’s AI Cohort Programme, which will also focus on sharing their AI experiences with their peers, said Clement Cheung Wan-ching, CEO of the Insurance Authority.
The authority planned to issue new regulatory guidance next year for all insurers on how to properly adopt AI in their businesses, Cheung said after the ceremony. It would also set up an AI expert group, including regulators, industry representatives and technology players, to guide the industry on using the technology to enhance productivity and service without infringing on customer privacy, he said.
“AI development is a worldwide trend across different sectors, including the insurance industry,” he said. “Hong Kong will need to make sure we have sufficient talent, sound regulation and infrastructure in place for us to be an AI hub and international risk-management centre.”
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Only 20 per cent of the city’s 157 insurance companies were actively adopting AI in their operations, such as handling claims and managing documents, Cheung said. About 40 per cent of insurers were exploring ways to adopt AI, while the rest had no idea how and when to use it, he added.
“The pledge and the new programme will allow the Insurance Authority and the seven insurers, who are leading AI players in the sector, to develop training and guidance and to share experience with the other two tiers of insurers to encourage them to adopt AI in their businesses,” Cheung said.