How Claims Automation is Relevant to the Customer Experience
The Greek philosopher Aristotle imagined “the complete happiness of man”, which he thought would include: “self-sufficiency, leisureliness and unweariedness”. Wisely (of course!) he had his doubts concluding that “such a life would be too high for man” – only the gods could realise such an existence.
Today’s fourth industrial revolution encompasses machine learning to genetic engineering and automation, promising more leisure time, as work demands are removed by better, cheaper and more efficient artificial technology.
The possibility that mechanical or automated processes might one day free mankind from the burden of labour is a widely shared utopian concept but the dream has its nightmarish aspects. Ever since the First Industrial Revolution, work has been seen as the way in which people justify their existence. The rise of automation, industrialisation, and creeping modernity must be set alongside the memory of the Luddite riots and the Great Depression, and indeed many sociologists have warned about the dangers of automation, which comprise one of the fundamental themes of modern dystopian fiction.
The concept of the automatisation of the human psyche was a key theme in Philip K Dick’s work, displayed in the Science Fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – later filmed as a movie renamed Blade Runner (with Harrison Ford playing the world weary detective.)
The notion of the meshing of human and machine is carried forward in many stories featuring Cyborgs, most notably in the latest series of Dr Who in which the Doctor’s companion Billie is converted into a Cyber man!
The fear today is that the cyber threat (in its widest sense, setting aide data and hacking perils) could result in the decimation of entire industries from black cab taxi drivers to bookkeepers, lawyers and potentially insurers, including their claims teams.
In next week’s blog we explore how organisations in the insurance market are exploring the implications of workplace automation.