What people are not focusing on is the rapid change in the products and services that are coming from the convergence of emerging technologies, which is happening right now. Take a quick perusal of the topics in SMA's Next-Gen Innovation Community, and some examples came to light:

To diagnose a rare genetic disorder, a physician combined an exomes analysis with a facial comparison using an app called Face2Gene, which was developed by the same programmers who taught Facebook to find your face in your friends' photos.
To reduce manufacturing times and production periods, Adidas will use 3D printing or additive manufacturing methods as the core technology of its factory that produces sneakers.
The use of "cobots" — collaborative robots that perform tasks alongside humans — is rapidly gaining popularity, and it is the fastest-growing segment of the $1 billion U.S. robotics industry.
The global semiconductor industry is pushing to develop new chip designs, materials, and manufacturing processes. One reason is the widening use of the artificial-intelligence technique known as deep learning in products — both consumer and manufacturing products.

Additional examples could consume volumes of space. But what does this convergence mean to the insurance industry? It means unknown risk and unknown liability. Unlike the autonomous vehicle world, where underwriters and claims adjusters understand the general risk and liability landscape, the convergence of emerging technology is now and will continue generating significant numbers of unknowns. Inter-relationships of the unknown risk and liabilities will be the most challenging.

Special Reports /

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