Japan-based insurance firm Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance said it is laying off 34 of its employees, and that their roles will be taken over by an artificial intelligence system, Japanese daily The Mainichi reported. The firm said the transition will raise productivity levels by 30% and help them save approximately Rs 7.13 crore a year after its Rs 9 crore investment comes into force.
The firm will use IBM’s Watson Explorer in a bid to reduce the cost and time taken to conduct operations including reading thousands of medical certificates, calculating hospital stay durations, medical histories and any other factors before issuing payouts. The final claims will be sanctioned by an employee. The staffers will be phased out by March.
The artificial intelligence system will first focus on 1,32,000 claims from 2015. The country’s ageing populations and robot technology infrastructure has made it conducive for firms like Dai-Ichi Life Insurance to opt for the system without reducing its staff strength, the Japanese publication said. Another firm, Japan Post Insurance, is considering incorporating the technological innovation.
A 2015 study by the Nomura Research Institute states that almost 50% of all jobs in Japan could be executed by robots by the year 2035. Japan’s industry ministry will use an artificial intelligence system on a pilot basis to help its officials write answers for ministers during parliamentary sessions in February. Its success can pave the way for a revolution in parliamentary procedures, the daily said.
In May 2016, Apple manufacturer Foxconn said it would replace half of its workforce in their Taiwan factory with robots.
The image is representative.
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