US NAIC Fall 2022 National Meeting Highlights: Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (H) Working Group

At the Fall 2022 National Meeting of the US National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”), the Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (H) Working Group (“BDAI Working Group”), a subgroup of the Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology (H) Committee (“H Committee”) met. Below are highlights from the meeting.¹

The BDAI Working Group met on December 13, 2022, and received reports on its various Artificial Intelligence (“AI”)/Machine Learning (“ML”) surveys:

• AI/ML Private Passenger Survey: The BDAI Working Group released a report on its Private Passenger Auto AI/ML Survey Results on December 8, 2022. Commissioner Kevin Gaffney, co-vice chair of the BDAI Working Group, reported that approximately 88% of the companies that responded to the survey use or plan to use AI/ML. The reported use of AI/ML for certain types of activities varied—for example, 70% of companies reported using AI/ML in claims, but only 2% were using AI/ML for loss prevention. Commissioner Gaffney also highlighted data points on model vendors, consumer dispute procedures, and governance and transparency practices. The report also includes a list of potential next steps that the NAIC could take:
  • Determining whether further subjects should be explored, such as insurers’ AI/ML usage and level of decision-making (i.e., the amount of human involvement in decision-making), insurer data elements, insurers’ governance frameworks and the documentation of those frameworks, consumer data recourse, and a third-party regulatory framework;
  • Creating a risk hierarchy to prioritize the need for more model governance and insurer oversight;
  • Evaluating consumer data recourse;
  • Evaluating the regulatory framework around the use of third-party models and data;
  • Evaluating concerns about third-party concentration; and
  • Determining whether additional white papers on best practices in the AI/ML space would be useful.

• AI/ML Home Survey: Since the Summer 2022 National Meeting, the AI/ML Home Survey was completed with 10 states issuing examination call letters to 194 companies. The response deadline was extended to December 15, 2022.   
• AI/ML Life Insurance Survey: Fourteen states have collaborated to develop a survey to assess the use of AI/ML in the life insurance space in the operational areas of pricing, underwriting, marketing, and loss prevention. These states are anticipated to issue informational letters in early January 2023 followed by formal examination call letters in early February 2023 to 192 life insurance companies, including six insurtechs.

Commissioner Doug Ommen, co-vice chair of the BDAI Working Group, then presented a list of base questions that can be used for the appropriate regulatory evaluation of insurers’ use of models and big data, including via third-party data and model vendors, and for the development of a regulatory framework for monitoring and overseeing the industry’s use of third-party data and model vendors. The questions are divided among three sections: (1) Main General Questions, (2) Detailed Technical Questions, and (3) Definitions. The questions in the first two sections are further divided into the following three categories:

• Questions to ask insurers about their own models and to insurers or third parties about any third-party model;
• Questions to ask insurers about the use of third-party models and data inputs into those models; and
• Questions to ask insurers about the use of third-party data.

These questions were exposed for a 62-day exposure period with comments due on February 13, 2023.

Finally, the BDAI Working Group received an update on the work of the Accelerated Underwriting (A) Working Group. Commissioner Grace Arnold, chair of the latter Working Group, reported that an ad hoc group of regulators has been meeting to consider specific guidance with respect to accelerated underwriting in life insurance. The group identified some questions to be asked and some potential referrals to market conduct. The group plans to expose a draft regulatory guidance document in early 2023 for comment.

Conclusion

The BDAI Working Group will continue to conduct and analyze the results from its AI/ML surveys. We expect that regulators’ reactions to survey results and to comments from interested parties on these results will develop and inform the regulators’ thinking with regard to an appropriate regulatory framework for the use of AI/ML. The list of questions being developed for evaluation of insurer’s use of models and big data, as well as the H Committee’s development of a model bulletin on the use of AI in insurance demonstrate a move on the part of regulators to issue more concrete guidance on the use of AI/ML. We will continue to track and report on these developments.  

To view additional updates from the US NAIC Fall 2022 National Meeting, visit our meeting highlights page.

 

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¹ For highlights from the BDAI Working Group during the Summer 2022 National Meeting, see our Legal Update “US NAIC Summer 2022 National Meeting Key Takeaways: Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology,” August 23, 2022.