Making Sense of Emerging AI Capabilities like ChatGPT

Wednesdays with Woodward® webinar series

March 1, 2023

Wednesday 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. ET

Wednesdays With Woodward webinar series logo

Generative Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has taken the world by storm. This technology has the ability to create brand new content – be it audio, video or text. ChatGPT, a text-based generative A.I., garnered everyone’s attention with its ability to write poems, publish articles, summarize books, pass MBA exams, create business plans and write code. It can deliver curated work, all while sounding conversational. Travelers’ technology and data science leaders, Mano Mannoochahr and Girish Modgil, helped us better understand this new technology and the impact of such A.I. tools on the insurance industry and beyond.  

Presented by the Travelers Institute, the Insurance Association of Connecticut, the Risk and Uncertainty Management Center at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, the School of Data Science and Analytics at Kennesaw State University’s College of Computing and Software Engineering, the Emory University Goizueta Business School – Master of Science in Business Analytics, the Master's in Financial Technology (FinTech) Program at the University of Connecticut School of Business, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and the MetroHartford Alliance.

Summary

What did we learn? Here are the top takeaways from Making Sense of Emerging AI Capabilities like ChatGPT.

What is Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT)? Modgil explained that ChatGPT is a large language model and is a prototype interactive chatbot hosted by OpenAI. As a large language model, ChatGPT is “capable of providing detailed and articulate answers to questions across domains,” he said. Modgil highlighted that “ChatGPT has been one of the fastest-adopted technologies in the history of the world. It went from launch to 100 million active users in just two months.”

ChatGPT pulls its information mainly from the internet and books. According to Modgil, ChatGPT sources its knowledge primarily from the internet, more than 500,000 books, 12 programming languages and a dataset containing a staggering 499 billion words, which is equivalent to 5,700 years of nonstop talking.

Caution: It’s best not to believe everything that ChatGPT produces. Mannoochahr advised caution when using ChatGPT, as it is not always reliable. One reason for this is that it was trained through 2021 and not released until November 2022. This means its output is based on 2-year-old information. “ChatGPT operates as if it is still 2021,” he said. Another aspect of ChatGPT he shared that should give users caution is that it can “hallucinate,” meaning it sometimes makes up facts that do not exist.

Sources and ownership of information are not easy to determine with ChatGPT. While it is usually straightforward to identify the author and source of information obtained from search engines like Google, this is not the case with ChatGPT. Mannoochahr explained how it can be challenging to trace the origins of information generated by ChatGPT and, consequently, to identify who might own that information.

The insurance industry is well-positioned to adopt new and emerging AI technologies. Mannoochahr described how the insurance industry has always relied on data and data science capabilities to operate and therefore is well-equipped to adapt to new innovations. In fact, he suggested that the insurance industry could be considered as the “original database, given its long-standing emphasis on data analysis and utilization.”

Travelers is innovating with AI technology. Mannoochahr shared how Travelers has developed claim damage assessment models that leverage AI – for example, enhanced image analysis capabilities. These AI models help speed damage assessments and payment of claims. Modgil added that Travelers is approaching applications like ChatGPT with a critical eye while acknowledging potential benefits. He said, “We are in observation mode with some healthy skepticism, all while recognizing the power of these tools but acknowledging the associated risks.”

Could AI like ChatGPT eventually take our jobs? There has been some concern about whether AI like ChatGPT could eventually replace human workers. However, Mannoochahr and Modgil each pointed out that this technology is not as new as it may seem, as it is already present in our daily lives through many smartphone apps and other sources. Modgil reassured that he believes it will “enhance our abilities in the long run.”

Watch replay

Speakers

Mano Mannoochahr
Mano Mannoochahr
Senior Vice President; Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Travelers

Girish ModgilGirish Modgil
Ph.D., Vice President, Automation and Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, Enterprise Data & Analytics, Travelers

Host

Joan Woodward headshot
Joan Woodward
President, Travelers Institute; Executive Vice President, Public Policy, Travelers


four-panelists-seated-on-stage-at-event.png

Events & webinars

Don't miss other upcoming programs in the Wednesdays with Woodward® series.

Close up picture of businessman using keyboard

Join our email list

Get on the list to receive program invitations, replays and more.