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AI is shaking up the insurance industry – but it’s not a substitute for human empathy

AI IS CHANGING all arms of insurance – from underwriting to claims processing to client relations. Research from the Canadian Association of Financial Institutions in Insurance (CAFII) and Deloitte found that 60 percent of insurers anticipate that AI will have a significant impact on underwriting and claims processing in the next three to five years, with 33 percent of insurers considering improving customer service by using this new technology. But in a sector that hinges so delicately on fostering authentic, human-to-human contact, what should AI really be used for? After all, can a machine deliver comfort on your worst day? Speaking to Insurance Business, Natalie Higgins, chief operating officer and SVP at Intact Insurance, indicated that while AI is a helpful aid for brokers, it’s by no means a replacement for that all-important human touch.

Intact Insurance is Canada’s largest home, auto, and business insurance company, the choice of more than four million consumers. Its coast-to-coast presence and its strong relationship with insurance brokers mean the company can provide the outstanding service, comfort, and continuity customers deserve. Intact Insurance is a member company of Intact Financial Corporation (TSX: IFC), the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada and a leading provider of specialty insurance in North America. For news on Intact, please visit www.intactfc.com.

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“Insurance will always be a very human business. When you consider the nature of what we do, human empathy is at the core of what we deliver”

Natalie Higgins, Intact Insurance

“The transformative power of AI is undeniable. We’re seeing it happening all around us in recent years. Since launching our data lab in 2017, our ambition has been to be a leader in the insurance world when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence. And we think that we’re well on our way to doing that.” Higgins added that giving brokers more time to add value in conversations and have meaningful dialogue with customers instead of focusing on purely transactional activities is something that’s top of mind for Intact and should be a focus for brokers as well.

But one concern looms large for the industry as a whole. “One of the big questions … that we often get asked is, Will this replace people?” said Higgins. “That’s certainly not the objective here. Insurance is about people, and in order to be able to deliver on the experience that customers expect from us and need from us, there needs to be human interaction. There’s no form of artificial intelligence that can replace human empathy, which is so integral to everything that we do.” And the data certainly seems to chime with Higgins’ perspective here. Research from Gartner found that 64 percent of humans would prefer that companies didn’t use artificial intelligence (AI) in their customer service models, with a survey from UserTesting in conjunction with Talker Research adding that 88 percent of respondents prefer to receive insurance guidance from a human.

Similarly, in Higgins’ view, AI is a tool to unlock time and insight – it’s not a substitute for human expertise. And for brokers, that means a redefined role, not a diminished one. “When you talk about the broker experience [with AI], they can employ [the tools] within their operations. Some of the more practical options would be automating simple tasks – that affords the brokers more time with the customer, building relationships, building that bond and delivering on human empathy.” This shift also caters to what customers increasingly expect. As Higgins told IB, from her experience she notices that customers are more and more demanding of brokers as an industry – they want more information and care at a quicker pace, but always with a human hand guiding them.

“If you think about the simple nature of a transaction, I can go online and I can buy an insurance product. But I call a broker because I want advice.” Higgins pointed to another emerging area: training and quality assurance. Here, Intact is exploring how AI tools like speech analytics can uncover patterns in customer calls to refine service delivery. “Could we have explained something more simply?” she asked. “Did they have easy access to the information that the customer was calling for? We can take learnings from that and apply it in our operations – and that’s really helped improve the customer experience.”

“In 2024 alone, we’ve invested more than $500 million in technology. We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with AI”

Natalie Higgins, Intact Insurance

Throughout human history, any great advancement has been eyed with curiosity and caution – and AI is certainly no exception. As the tech continues to evolve and its capabilities grow daily, brokers are understandably concerned that AI may come for their roles entirely. For Higgins, this just isn’t a feasible reality. “Insurance will always be a very human business,” she told IB. “When you consider the nature of what we do, human empathy is at the core of what we deliver. Think about a claims experience – someone is having a very tragic day when they call us, something terrible has happened to them. They want to talk to somebody who can show empathy, a live human being on the other end of a phone. And that’s the case for brokers and for insurance companies.” At Intact, people really are at the core of everything they do. It’s why the company has established principles – like security, helping society, and data quality – to guide the responsible development and ethical use of data and algorithmic models, including AI tools. As Higgins told IB, she cannot see a world where insurers would replace the value of human experience with something wholly automated. “[However], I believe we can leverage AI to drive efficiency around the human experience, [therefore] giving brokers more time to add value in those conversations and have meaningful dialogue with customers instead of focusing on [purely] transactional activities,” she said.

This is something that’s reflective of Intact’s overall ethos as an organization, Higgins said, especially when they’re looking at modernization. As she told IB, their whole mindset revolves around how to continue to evolve in order to better serve customers and brokers. “In 2024 alone, we’ve invested more than $500 million in technology,” she said. “We’re just scratching the surface of what we can do with AI. For us at Intact, it’s about looking at how to practically apply this in a way that better serves customers. We analyze pricing and risk selection – [looking at whether] there’s more we can do in that space. [Because], as an individual customer, knowing that I’m paying the right price for my risk is extremely important to me – and so we can use AI to help us to better understand risk to help us to better price that risk with a sophisticated lens.”

Published Jun 16, 2025

Customers prefer human advisors as AI adoption grows

88% of people would prefer to receive insurance guidance from a human

56% of respondents would rather endure everyday inconveniences – such as sitting in traffic (10%), moving back in with parents (19%), or attending a disliked concert (24%) – rather than navigate insurance enrolment

65% said they are confident in understanding their insurance coverage

Source: UserTesting

Source: Gartner

AI bias concerns rock customer confidence

64% of customers would prefer that companies didn’t use AI in customer service

53% of customers would consider switching to a competitor if they found out a company was going to use AI for customer service

42% of customers are worried AI will provide the wrong answers

25% are worried AI biases won’t treat customers equally

Higgins noted Intact’s One Touch Claim as an example of this. It’s a new product they’re piloting, which essentially allows customers to call in and settle their total loss in a few minutes. “Say, for instance, you’ve just totalled your car,” she told IB. “You have your claim settled [quickly] and your cheque is already being cut, meaning you can begin to make yourself whole again. That’s what we want to focus on – looking at how to deliver that experience for consumers and for brokers. And, as an organization who works with brokers, we’re all about improving that experience for them.”

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