Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) see the removal of all service providers?

In a word No.

Much panic is being generated about Al because we seem today, to be seeing any headline as a catastrophe overnight and few care to look or the detail. Worse still, bad news grabs our attention and appears to sell far better than good news.

Irrefutably in a chain of transactions and interactions there will be avenues for improvement and evermore efficiency that is the nature of business. But there gets to a point where the end user realises that with little emotion supplied by a robot or programme, true interaction is limited.

Lets not forget until computers self-programme themselves (which is happening is some degree by computers already making other computers) What they input are records, programmes and options established by humans.

Voice recognition does work mostly but when I call the bank and am asked what I am looking for I have given up saying anything except ‘sausages’ as the system clearly has been programmed to accept only certain prompts and get a human straight away.

It was reported last week that Goldman Sachs estimates some 300 million jobs will be lost to Al which in a world of some 5 billion adults and 3 billion kids is a lot but suggests there is a limit as to how far Al will improve life.

I think when robots have downloaded all case histories in law know to man and results, will there be a need for judges or lawyers? Or will a person input a claim from home and the Judgebot; decide what the case verdict will be and penalty in 3 minutes. and automatically debit the account of the defendant? Will there be a need for juries or lawyers? We van look at every industry group and some will definitely be affected.

With insurance the issues are different in that not all businesses or areas to be insured have every angle covered, and it’s more a case of what exclusions and exemptions are deemed sufficient and will frustrate a claim before it can be filed.

Humans have the ability to perceive emotions by subtle changes in the tone of voice or eye and eye brow movements and can read counterparty understanding with no words spoken. Robot will no doubt claim to understand every cough made and the depth of near choking sounds.

I have noticed a word that is being used more and more which is nuance and it’s a finer kind of subtlety. And will Al get it, and all the emotions attached? I’m not sure the makers will say yes but I am not so sure.

Will Al cover everything we know about anything. I have my doubt’s simply because without some serious control on where the robot/computer programme can deliver an answer, we could end up with rogue equivalents to every occupation that the use will not be able to identify freely.

I some degree we see that reported already, with ghost brokers and financial advisers who are not regulated pretending to be a firm that is. And external unrelated parties interloping in financial transactions and sending duff emails because they have broken the firewalls of computers.

We see robots already artificially breaking into to office systems and closing them down in exchange for payment of a ransom, and scaring the hell out if the company or individual.

We have seen one of the founders of Al report to a US Senate Committee where his presentation was given by a robot in the voice and language used by the Chair of the committee who had to make clear that was not himself speaking!

Where does this all end?

Honestly, I don’t know but I think in two ways. First legislators need to get a global acceptance of the downsides to Al and then generate a set of rules that are global and followed by every signed up government and not varied or Second, in short there will be chaos and catastrophe.

Words are easy to deliver, but the speed of evolution of computers knowledge is growing way faster that legislators abilities to keep up let alone understand what they are dealing with.

In conclusion all I can say is we have to acknowledge that computer data and the collection thereof and potential use is growing dangerously fast with insufficient controls.

If you can keep some semblance of control and keep asking ourselves ‘why’ and ‘Do I need this? And the shed load of consequences that could happen, it may well constrain or at least slow down the exuberance that is attached to all the Al hype by those who have invested so much and now are on their public relations rounds to sell their products and payback.

Cyber cover is insufficient so the best prevention could simply be to wait and see what happens before paying out for something that may well be redundant before you get it delivered.

We are paid to give advice on Insurance cover but more and more, we are having to express opinions on what cover is in place already and what needs improving. Al will change the order of things and we will all be affected.

Wait and see and please keep asking yourselves and us as we may all ultimately need to buy insurance from the hidden potential damage, we don’t know as yet Al will bring.

In the meantime, the weather is looking good, and it may be time for a bar-b-q. Have a good month ahead and if you are looking to take out Commercial or Personal insurance, you have come to the right place at Trident Insurance

Kindest regards

Robert D Marshall