The use of artificial intelligence will transform the insurance industry, but the business will still require a human touch, a leading executive told attendees during the PwC Insurance Summit at Hamilton Princess & Beach Club.

Kathleen Faries, the chief executive of Artex Capital Solutions, made the point that the insurance business is complex: “There is a human element to all of this that AI is not going to give you.”

Ms Faries was a panel participant discussing how innovation is driving insurance growth and competition.

The panel also featured Greg Hendrick, the CEO of Vantage Group, and Steve Horton, president of Liberty Mutual Bermuda.

It was moderated by Ian Smith, insurance correspondent for the Financial Times, the co-presenter of the event.

Mr Hendrick said that his company’s business “is, and will remain, a people business”.

Mr Smith asked the panellists if AI might in future replace underwriters.

Mr Horton replied: “I don’t see people being replaced by the machine. I think the roles change.”

Looking ahead ten years, he predicted that underwriters will have “more of a portfolio manager function”.

He said AI would allow insurers to speed up decisions and write more risks, leaving them more time to spend with clients and brokers and consider the next important thing.

Mr Horton added: “We’ll be more focused on our clients, in my view.”

Ms Faries cautioned that AI has limits, citing the example of it being used to build a marketing document. She said: “AI doesn’t know who’s on the other end of that marketing document.”

Mr Smith spoke about the use of AI in the claims process and the risks therein.

Mr Horton said: “The decision point still requires the human sign-off.”