Christie’s recently held the first-ever auction of artwork created by artificial intelligence (AI). The AI-generated piece, which involved some minimal human intervention by Paris-based art collective Obvious, shocked the art world by selling for $432,500, more than 40 times the official estimates.

Last October, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in its Summary for Policymakers that the world is failing to keep the global temperature increase below the recommended 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels, and temperatures are instead climbing toward a 3°C rise.

Artificial intelligence will become a “big time saver” for claims adjusters and will eventually allow the industry to save billions a year in costs, one researcher says.

QBE is taking a stand. It is loudly and proudly talking about the dangers of climate change and what needs to be done to stop it—including putting its own money on the line.

We are at a turning point today as technology advances at a speed that is changing the face of risk. What is the future of risk and how can risk managers and the insurance industry adjust and prepare?

Recently, I read a blurb that featured an “experiment” by SafeButler, an online premium comparison web site. The purpose of the experiment was to see how fast someone could get a renter’s insurance policy. They tested 10 online sources for coverage on a “luxury apartment.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) current approach to workers’ compensation liability claims is leading to consternation and confusion among many industry insiders, it has been suggested.

For independent adjusters, the need to replace retiring workers is becoming more urgent.

As I watch the insurtech space, I see a fair bit of hype around disruptive technology. Some of what I see reminds me of the dotcom boom of the late 1990s. Then, as now, lots of startups promise to deliver something ground-breaking, and all are competing in the same space, with many of the same ideas.

Nationwide Insurance issued 191 layoff notices to Des Moines workers this month — more than double the number previously announced by the company.

The arguments surrounding the need for change in the insurance industry have largely been won. In recent years, dramatically increasing regulations, competition and customer expectations, along with dwindling resources and shortages of technical skills, have combined to produce an environment of uncertainty.

Insurance companies are only beginning to harness the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA). AI refers to computer systems that can mimic human capabilities by learning and solving problems. RPA is an emerging form of business process automation technology based on using software robots or AI “workers.”

Many insurance companies suffer from slow and inefficient claims processes, which are notoriously lengthy and cumbersome for both the insurance companies and their customers. From long and difficult back and forth to messy, complicated paperwork, claim cycles can be a real pain for all involved.

While "getting to simple" may take hard work and persistence, there are some core ways to help those in this important endeavor.

Fraudulent claims continue to plague the global insurance market, but proponents of blockchain technology insist that a solution may soon be at hand. When implementation of these decentralized digital ledgers becomes widespread, some believe fraud could be reduced significantly.