Will AI replace insurance underwriters?

Part of the work, not the whole job. AI could take on about 58% of the working time in a typical insurance underwriter job today. The other 42% still needs a person.

42% of the work still needs a person.

Needs a person: 42%A person checking AI: 26%AI alone: 32%

The bracket under the bar is the evidence range for the share AI could take on: 53 to 58%. One end comes from how well AI did each responsibility in real use, or a second rating where that isn't measured. The other is our figure, which also follows research across the industry.

7 responsibilities in a typical insurance underwriter job. Median pay $81,370 a year in the U.S. (BLS, May 2025).

Still needs a person

  • Decline risks that are too high AI helps
  • Set substandard ratings and endorsements AI helps
  • Assess risk from applicant documents AI helps
  • Authorize reinsurance on high risk policies AI helps
  • Write to get information or quote rates AI helps
  • Assess catastrophe and overinsurance risk AI helps

AI can do or help with

  • Assess risk from applicant documents AI helps
  • Write to get information or quote rates AI helps
  • Decline risks that are too high AI helps
  • Set substandard ratings and endorsements AI helps
  • Assess catastrophe and overinsurance risk AI helps
  • Check total insurance already in force AI can do it

The biggest responsibilities on each side, ranked by a person's time on the left. "AI helps" means AI takes on part of the work, or most of it with a person checking what it produces, so one can show on both sides. See all 7, with the reason for each and the cost of handing them to AI.

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Questions people ask

Will AI replace insurance underwriters?

Part of the work, not the whole job. AI could take on about 58% of the working time in a typical insurance underwriter job today. The other 42% still needs a person. That is a split of the work, not a forecast of jobs lost.

Which parts of the job can AI do?

The biggest ones AI can do or help with: assess risk from applicant documents, write to get information or quote rates, decline risks that are too high, set substandard ratings and endorsements, assess catastrophe and overinsurance risk, check total insurance already in force.

Which parts still need a person?

The biggest ones: decline risks that are too high, set substandard ratings and endorsements, assess risk from applicant documents, authorize reinsurance on high risk policies, write to get information or quote rates, assess catastrophe and overinsurance risk.

How is this measured?

The U.S. Department of Labor lists 7 responsibilities for this job (O*NET 31.0). Each is scored on 4 questions: can AI do it, does it get it right, must a person sign for it, and do people need to deal with a real person. The split is weighted by how much of the job each responsibility takes up. The evidence range for the share AI could take on is 53 to 58%. One end comes from how well AI did each responsibility in real use, or a second rating where that isn't measured. The other is our figure, which also follows research across the industry. Scores version 0.7.17, updated October 28, 2026.

Responsibilities from O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor). Pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Scores are calibrated to published research and updated every month. How it works.

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