For insurance companies who wish to understand existing markets and enter new and emerging markets, being able to accurately predict insurance demand is critical. Currently, demand for insurance is predicted predominately by analyzing economic factors (e.g., gross domestic product [GDP], inflation rate). However, we often see gaps in insurance demand between two different countries, despite the similarity of those countries’ economic conditions. This difference indicates that insurance market dynamics cannot always be captured through economic conditions, or through an economic analysis. Clearly, some additional new and improved rating variables would be useful to more effectively predict insurance demand in different markets.

Most current (or recently graduated) college students are familiar with several of the methods that can be used to finance a college education. The most preferred options are college savings programs (529 plans), grants and scholarships, because they do not have to be paid back. Secondly most-preferred are government loans, which have lower interest rates compared to other loans. Once those avenues are exhausted, however, it is up to the students and their families to find other alternatives. Traditionally, this would mean that students (or their families) might resort to taking out private loans with higher rates than those offered by the government. But what if there was another funding method to consider – one that relied more directly on the quantifiable expected return of the education being pursued?

A decade ago, autonomous vehicles (AVs) seemed like a futuristic gimmick, out of reach.

Today, however – although the word “autonomous” might suggest otherwise – most people drive some sort of AV. Various rate filings, both for commercial and private passenger auto, give an idea of how autonomous vehicles are being priced with regard to insurance. Although rate filings do not exist for fully autonomous vehicles, many filings offer discounts for having an autonomous feature attached to the vehicle.

This raises the question – would fully autonomous vehicles be even more cost-effective with regard to insurance?

Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that teaches a computer how to analyze and find hidden patterns in data through the use of algorithms. It’s been called a “revolution,” and from self-driving cars to health care, it has begun to change the way we live our lives. Our Pinnacle University group explored the emerging world of machine learning and how it fits into the insurance industry.