The insurance industry continues to be a hotbed of patent innovation. Activity is driven by digitalization, personalization, and growing importance of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things, and cybersecurity in insurance documentation and data analytics, predictive risk assessment, fraud detection, and smart policy management. In the last three years alone, there have been over 9,000 patents filed and granted in the insurance industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Artificial intelligence in insurance: insurance fraud detection AI. Buy the report here.
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However, not all innovations are equal and nor do they follow a constant upward trend. Instead, their evolution takes the form of an S-shaped curve that reflects their typical lifecycle from early emergence to accelerating adoption, before finally stabilizing and reaching maturity.
Identifying where a particular innovation is on this journey, especially those that are in the emerging and accelerating stages, is essential for understanding their current level of adoption and the likely future trajectory and impact they will have.
25+ innovations will shape the insurance industry
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which plots the S-curve for the insurance industry using innovation intensity models built on over 75,000 patents, there are 25+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Within the emerging innovation stage, repair estimation AI, treatment expense prediction and underwriting AI are disruptive technologies that are in the early stages of application and should be tracked closely. Smart policy management, AI in driver risk profiling and smart vehicle damage assessment are some of the accelerating innovation areas where adoption has been steadily increasing. Among maturing innovation areas is automated weather forecasting, which is now well established in the industry.
Innovation S-curve for artificial intelligence in the insurance industry
Insurance fraud detection AI is a key innovation area in artificial intelligence
Insurance fraud detection AI is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to automatically identify and prevent fraudulent insurance claims. These algorithms use data analysis, natural language processing, computer vision, and other techniques to identify patterns that may indicate fraud and flag those claims for further investigation.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 140+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established insurance companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of insurance fraud detection AI.
Key players in insurance fraud detection AI – a disruptive innovation in the insurance industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of applications identified for each patent. It broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of countries each patent is registered in. It reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to insurance fraud detection AI
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2022) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 211 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Clearlake Capital Group | 71 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ping An Insurance (Group) | 57 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Advanced New Technologies | 53 | Unlock Company Profile |
| USAA | 43 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Tractable | 20 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Zendrive | 18 | Unlock Company Profile |
| International Business Machines | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mitchell International | 13 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Accenture | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Addepar | 12 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Theator | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| The Toronto-Dominion Bank | 11 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sensata Technologies | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| The Allstate | 10 | Unlock Company Profile |
| The Travelers | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| NetraDyne | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| American International Group (AIG) | 9 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Alibaba Group | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mile Auto | 8 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Baidu | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Lear | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Conduent | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Capital One Financial | 7 | Unlock Company Profile |
| The Hartford Financial Services Group | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| China Life Insurance (Group) | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Pearl | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Tempus Labs | 6 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Nauto | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Cerebri AI | 5 | Unlock Company Profile |
| athenahealth | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Blinker | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Leonard Green & Partners | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Ford Motor | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Paperclip | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Dalian Roiland Technology | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Hua Nan Financial | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Mastercard | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Yembo | 4 | Unlock Company Profile |
| nViso | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| First American Financial | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| CTBC Financial | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Liberty Mutual | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Guggenheim Credit Services | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Lytx | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Aon | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Centene | 3 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Sunshine Insurance Group | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Guangzhou Zhijing Information Technology | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
| Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation | 2 | Unlock Company Profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance is one of the leading patent filers in insurance fraud detection AI. The company was recently granted a patent for a method of detecting false positive electronic fraud alerts before they are sent to customer mobile devices. The method involves the use of a rules-based engine and a machine learning program to analyze transaction data and identify potential fraud. The program is trained to learn and classify the characteristics of transaction data indicating different types of fraud, such as lost or stolen cards, account takeovers, counterfeit cards, or application fraud.
Some of the other key patent filers in the space include Kofax, Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, and Advanced New Technologies.
In terms of application diversity, Theator held the top position, while Lytx and nViso stood in second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Kofax leads the pack, followed by Theator and Sensata Technologies.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the insurance industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Insurance.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
