Zurich platform update compliant with EU AI regulation

Zurich has said its artificial intelligence (AI) framework had already been compliant with the European Union (EU) AI Act before the regulation was passed.

Split into four categories – minimal risk, limited risk, high risk and unacceptable risk – the AI Act aims to foster the use of trustworthy AI across Europe, providing firms that use it with clear requirements and obligations around the technology’s use.

It was passed on 13 March 2024.

The announcement came as Zurich announced its eXchange 2.0 platform, which allows the insurer to test and launch AI propositions in a controlled environment.

The insurer now has approximately 800 external users on its platform.

Ericson Chan, group chief information and digital officer, told journalists during a media roundtable on 14 March 2024 that ”AI brings tremendous opportunities to improve the ways we work”.

And speaking about the EU AI Act, he added: ”Even before generative AI, we had an AI assurance framework that was already compliant with the latest EU AI Act.”

Solutions

Zurich currently has 160 AI-powered propositions that can be used within the insurance value chain.

Its new platform uses application programming interfaces (APIs) to scale generative AI solutions – such as coverage checks, policy comparisons and claims insights.

The insurer has been experimenting with generative AI in recent times, with it looking at using ChatGPT for extracting data for claims and modelling.

“For Zurich, which operates in so many markets, [generative AI] was a real benefit,” Christian Westermann, Zurich’s group head of AI, said.

He added that Zurich was “constantly validating” its data to avoid AI potentially hallucinating or fabricating answers. 

Meanwhile, Frank Verkerk, group chief platform officer at the insurer, added that the firm saw “huge potential” in using APIs to scale solutions.

“APIs are often neglected, yet they have huge potential to transform how insurance is delivered,” he said.

”We are now able to leverage its full power, which will bring scale to insurance.”