Japanese insurance company to outsource 90% of tasks to AI

Japanese insurance company Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance has decided to transfer 90% of its administrative work to AI starting in 2018. The laid-off employees are planned to be transferred to the sales department, rather than being fired.

While Japan's largest banks are seeking to get rid of employees through AI, insurance companies, on the contrary, want to keep jobs, without giving up the benefits of automation.

Mitsui Sumitomo's sales department will use algorithms for routine tasks. These include, for example, responding to customer and counterparty inquiries, processing insurance applications, sorting letters and other administrative tasks. AI is planned to take on a fifth of the total workload of an employee, the company reports.

Currently, about 15,000 Mitsui Sumitomo employees are being retrained to work in other departments. In addition to sales, the laid-off employees will focus on claims processing, developing new insurance programs and other areas that cannot be automated.

The shift to AI is just one part of an overall operational overhaul at Insurance Group Holdings, which includes Mitsui Sumitomo. Other steps include integrating systems with its subsidiary Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance. The company hopes to save 16 billion yen ($141 million) a year.

Source:High Tech