A futurist drew a parallel between the world’s approach to artificial intelligence and the early days of the internet, as he spoke to a room of reinsurance professionals.

During a keynote panel at the Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers Life and Annuity Conference, held at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club, the inventor and forward thinker, Maurice Conti, reminded attendees of the two viewpoints on the internet back in the nineties.

He said: “There was one camp that thought it was just a passing fad. And there were others who saw a future profoundly shaped by a new technology. I don't think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg.”

He then played a recording of musician David Bowie discussing the very topic, with the legendary rocker saying: “I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable.”

Mr Conti told the audience: “If you just change ‘internet’ to ‘AI’ in that sentence, this is absolutely the way I see the future. I would urge you to ... embrace this time with enthusiasm, but also with a dose of critical thought because you are moving in a magical, once-in-a-generation moment.”

Mr Conti emphasised the need for organisations to prepare for the long-term impact of the new technology.

He described how AI had already become indispensable in his own work: “I could not do my job today without the frequent use of AI. I just would not be able to grow to my clients the volume and quality of work that I do without the help of these tools.”

He also cautioned against restricting access to AI tools in the workplace: “What doesn't work is shutting off access to ChatGPT. One obvious reason is you're talking about all this change and information and you're driving your folks to, like, go do amazing stuff and be tying their hands behind their backs and say, ‘we can't use the latest tools’. And the other thing is, we know that the data is out there. We know that if you block access at the firewall or even at the machine level, they're using the tools anyway. They'll use their personal devices.”

In the meantime, Bermuda insurers are moving from proof-of-concept to enterprise-grade AI solutions, especially in automation, data transformation, anomaly detection and knowledge management, according to Ed Bujok-Stone, partner, EY.

He pointed to these as “a couple of examples in the market, just as the sort of insurance level, just to give you a sense of where we are seeing progress being made”.

Given that, the Bermuda Monetary Authority is actively licensing innovative companies through its regulatory sandbox, with a focus on responsible AI adoption in insurance and financial services.

“Right now we are tasked to license across innovative companies,” said George Alayon, deputy director, supervision (fintech).

The BMA published a discussion paper in July on the responsible use of AI in the insurance sector in an attempt to showcase a proactive approach to the issue.

Bermuda is home to both “the biggest insurance groups in the world, internationally active insurance groups, as well as the smallest captive or life insurance companies”, requiring a proportional regulatory approach, said Mr Alayon.

“We recognise the diversity of our markets ... and so we need to, almost every day, have this balancing exercise that we need to do.”

The BMA is seeking updated industry feedback on AI adoption, he said, noting that before ChatGPT, only 38 per cent of Bermuda insurance sector firms reported active AI use cases.

“ChatGPT sort of exploded. And so what we want to know now is that across all sectors, the behaviour of every day. Where are you in your AI use case journey?” Mr Alayon continued.

The BMA’s consultation process on AI regulation is open until September 30 and the authority is actively seeking industry input on risk, governance and proportionality frameworks.