Artificial intelligence : man versus machine

We are starting to hear the term robo-advice very frequently nowadays. However, when we look at the meaning of this rather vague term it actually means different things in different industries.

In the financial and assistance services industries, robo-advice means that person-to-person advice, usually conducted via the telephone, will be replaced by online, automated assistance and advice.

Sophisticated offerings

The most important factor to realise is that robo-advice does not involve actual robots - the closest we will ever get to this is in the form of algorithms.

Robo-advice usually comprises of much more than simply just advice, it is about being able to offer sophisticated online offerings, ranging from basic assistance to even investing money on behalf of the user.

Seamless experiences

The reality of the world in which we live today is that technological innovation will happen, with or without brokers’ support or cooperation. As species, humans are on a continuous drive to do things better, faster and more accurately – all of this at a lower cost to the business and consumer.

If your client is stuck next to the road and you, as the broker, knows that by using a chat-bot instead of a human, the call will always be answered immediately, why would you hesitate?

In various exploratory discussions it is very clear that the idea of robo-advice is to provide the exact same kind of service and experience to the end customer, but by means of using new technologies. This is all done with an aim to improve the accuracy of advice and assistance provided and to reduce the turnaround times on what is delivered.

In the world of emergency assist services, the term robo-assist would be best appropriate. The Europ Assistance Group, for example, is in the process of exploring the use of various technologies to enhance the service offering to the general market. Some examples of these technologies include advanced analytics, artificial intelligence or machine learning, robotic process automation, next generation Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and conversational bots.

There are a number of these projects at group level which are close to being rolled out or are already in use.

Embracing robo-advice

Unfortunately, this type of innovation is currently not being used in South Africa – but many companies are busy exploring their options in this regard. For example, Europ Assistance is currently exploring the use of chat-bots to assist in curbing the scourge of prank calls into call-centres. This could be very useful as 80% of all calls made to one of our call centres are prank calls. Imagine the time wasted by call centre agents on prank calls when real emergencies are taking place. By using new technology, we are able to provide a more efficient service to the market.

People need to remember, most importantly, that robo-advice does not mean that robots will be taking away jobs. In essence, the collaboration between man and machine can ensure that we can improve on what we are currently doing right. Once the initial cost of the technology has been absorbed by the business, it will bring major reductions to operational costs.

How this will actually play out in future is still up for debate, but a number of international experts believe that we still have a far way to go before the use of artificial intelligence tools will become part of our everyday lives.

As with most things, when it comes to technological innovation, it would be very wise to stay abreast of these developments affecting your industry. There is a wealth of topics available online and brokers are urged to equip themselves with knowledge in order to be prepared for the change that is invariably coming our way in the financial services industry.