CFC adopts large language models for ‘everyday workflow’

CFC uses big language models, such as those powered by machine learning, to triage broker emails, says CFC CEO Graeme Newman.

“The models take all the great emails that you send us, read them, interpret them properly, therefore, how do we most effectively triage them, where do we need to send them,” Newman told broker participants at the 2023 CFC Summit “The model is increasingly able to read the context of the email and figure out what the scope request is, what the limit request is, and what the client details are.”

Using its model and API, the underwriter has worked to make the process more efficient, regardless of the channel the broker originally used, according to the CEO.

Newman further predicts that conversational artificial intelligence (AI) could help him further break other markets and overcome language barriers. While CFCs are traded in 80 countries around the world, the CEO admits that his business is “largely concentrated” in four major English-speaking countries.

“That’s because language is problematic,” Newman said. “We have that problem in Quebec now [and] we want to get better at it.”

Google Translate has never quite lived up to the bill when it comes to responses and can be “a bit clunky”, says Newman. Going forward, he appears optimistic about the opportunities conversational AI can open for businesses in non-English speaking markets.

“If you look at what conversational AI can do today, it can create perfect natural language translation, which means, eventually, we can unlock access to a lot of new markets without having to hire hundreds of speakers of local languages,” said Newman. “It was all very exciting.”

The 2023 CFC Summit took place in Chicago, USA, on May 18, 2023.