An AI Vision for the Actuarial Profession

Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep learning are transforming various industries, presenting both opportunities and challenges for professionals, including actuaries. This essay explores the potential impact of AI on the actuarial profession, discussing how actuaries can harness AI tools and techniques to enhance their work and create value for society, policyholders, insurers, and the profession itself. We differentiate between general AI and specific AI-driven applications, focusing on the latter’s potential to revolutionize core actuarial tasks such as pricing and reserving. The essay presents a vision of the AI-enhanced actuary, who leverages AI to build more accurate and efficient models, incorporates new data sources, and automates routine tasks while adhering to professional and ethical standards. We also discuss the challenges and speed-bumps along the way, including explainability, bias and discrimination risks, regulatory hurdles, and the need for actuaries to acquire AI knowledge and skills. The essay argues that the integration of AI into actuarial practice represents a natural evolution of the profession, building upon its foundation of mathematical and statistical techniques. By embracing AI and developing new skills, actuaries can unlock opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and value creation, both within the insurance industry and beyond. This essay aims to encourage the evolution of the AI-enhanced actuary, who is well-positioned to shape the future of insurance and contribute to the responsible development and deployment of AI systems across various domains.