The insurance industry thrives on precision. But when it comes to policies, conditions and contract wording in particular, there is often an almost incomprehensible linguistic chaos worldwide. In the “Paul the Insurer” podcast, this problem is explained using a surprising historical and biblical metaphor: the Tower of Babel. At the same time, the episode shows why artificial intelligence could become a crucial tool for international insurers.
Presenter Paul begins the episode with an excursion into the Bible. The book of Genesis tells how God gave mankind different languages in order to stop the construction of the Tower of Babel. According to Paul, there is a real historical background behind this story. Research assumes that around 8,000 years ago, people actually spoke a common original language that developed south of the Caucasus.
The so-called Yamnaya peoples in particular contributed to the spread of this language. It later gave rise to numerous language families: from Sanskrit to English, Farsi, Greek and the Romance languages.
Insurance contracts as a modern Babel
The link to the insurance industry follows immediately: for Paul, the “Babylonian curse” explains why insurance terms and conditions are worded so differently around the world. Not only are there countless national languages, but national legislation also differs considerably. In addition, each insurer develops its own contracts and definitions.
This is becoming a problem for internationally active companies in particular. Different policy wordings, translations and cover concepts make it difficult to compare risks and often lead to uncertainty among customers and insurers.
Paul describes this situation as a real nightmare for globally operating companies.
Artificial intelligence as a liberating blow
Finally, the episode centers on an experience from a board meeting of an insurance company. There, the chairwoman declared that the “Babylonian curse” had finally been lifted.
This is made possible by artificial intelligence. With the help of AI systems, all policy wordings have been translated into a standardized language and gaps in cover have been identified at the same time. This means that insurance terms and conditions can be analyzed and compared much more efficiently worldwide.
For international insurers, this opens up new opportunities in risk management and product development. Differences between local policies could be identified more quickly, inconsistencies reduced and global programs better coordinated.
Between hope and skepticism
Despite all the opportunities, the attitude towards artificial intelligence remains ambivalent. Paul also addresses this aspect and points out that some people today see AI itself as a kind of new curse. This time not from the Bible, but from technology.
The episode not only shows the growing importance of artificial intelligence in the insurance industry, but also the cultural and philosophical debates that accompany this development. Especially in an industry that depends heavily on language, trust and legal accuracy, AI could actually help to alleviate one of the oldest problems of mankind: the confusion of languages.
Binci Heeb
Paul the Insurer has other content that may interest you, such as the series of interviews with insurance industry executives.
Read also: Old risks, new instruments
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