Oklahoma Reminds Insurers to Play Fair If They Want to Use AI

Established laws apply to new technology, the state’s insurance commissioner says.

Julia Taliesin
Written byJulia Taliesin
Julia Taliesin
Julia TaliesinInsurance Content Writer

Julia Taliesin is an insurance content writer at Insurify. She began her career as a journalist, covering local government and business in Somerville, Mass.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris Schafer
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

Featured in

media logomedia logomedia logomedia logo
MacKenzie Korris
Reviewed byMacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor

MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with years of experience in print and digital media. He strives to craft actionable, inclusive copy that fosters smart decision-making through reader autonomy. He has a journalism degree from Saint Louis University.

Published | Reading time: 2 minutes

Advertiser Disclosure

At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.

We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.

Why you can trust Insurify: Comparing accurate insurance quotes should never put you at risk of spam. We earn an agent commission only if you buy a policy based on our quotes. Our editorial team follows a rigorous set of editorial standards and operates independently from our insurance partners. Learn more.

Share

As artificial intelligence (AI) takes seemingly every industry by storm, insurance regulators are reminding insurance companies to prioritize protecting consumers if they intend to use the technology. Oklahoma recently became the latest U.S. state to inform all state-licensed insurers that any AI use must comply with established laws and regulations.

“With new technologies comes the responsibility to ensure Oklahoma’s industry innovates while maintaining consumer protection,” said Glen Mulready, Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner, in a press release. “We hope to see artificial intelligence used to increase efficiencies and improve overall experiences.”

Could AI affect insurance rates?

Industry experts expect AI to influence how insurers set rates, which means it could affect insurance costs. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) posted background information and guidance about AI and wrote that insurance companies will begin using AI technology in significant ways, affecting everything from policy availability to premiums.

“AI will enable insurers to move from a ‘detect and repair’ framework to a ‘predict and prevent’ framework, allowing insurers to help their customers manage their risks and avoid claims altogether,” the NAIC wrote.

Oklahoma residents already face high property insurance costs. Oklahoma residents pay the third-highest home insurance rates in the U.S., with an average annual premium of $5,711, according to Insurify’s home insurance report. Car insurance premiums in the state are a little cheaper than average, at around $2,325 per year, but those rates increased 35% in 2024 alone, according to Insurify’s auto insurance report.

It’s not clear yet how exactly AI will affect insurance rates in Oklahoma or elsewhere. Even the NAIC writes that “AI’s impact on the world of insurance is still uncertain.” So far, the NAIC predicts AI may help track new issues and customer needs.

Industry AI guidelines: The basics

Oklahoma’s bulletin recognized the NAIC’s “Principles of Artificial Intelligence” published in 2020 as guidance for insurers as they start using AI. Principles included in the NAIC guidelines are

Oklahoma based its bulletin on a model the NAIC published in 2023, and it’s not the first U.S. state to do so. So far, including Oklahoma, at least 12 states and Washington, D.C., have posted bulletins using the NAIC model: Alaska, Connecticut, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

The NAIC’s “Principles of Artificial Intelligence” outline five important concepts regulators should use to oversee AI use in the insurance industry: fairness, ethics, accountability, compliance, and transparency.

What’s next: AI use will likely grow

Insurers are already using AI in claims processing, underwriting, fraud detection, and customer service with features like chatbots, according to the NAIC. One of the biggest advantages of AI is that it can analyze vast amounts of data, from climate risk to regional inflation factors. The NAIC put it this way: “Insurers are sitting on a treasure trove of big data, the main ingredient AI requires to be successful.”

Ideally, insurers can leverage AI to increase engagement, match customers with the right products, and personalize services and marketing, according to the NAIC.

Julia Taliesin
Julia TaliesinInsurance Content Writer

Julia Taliesin is an insurance content writer at Insurify. She began her career as a journalist, covering local government and business in Somerville, Mass. She reported multiple investigative stories about municipal finances and budget allocation, building development and inspection, and personnel. When the pandemic began she became a de facto public health reporter, writing daily and weekly reports using available data to quickly communicate rates of infection and city response.

She's worked for print and digital outlets, writing everything from quick-hit breaking news to long-form community features. More recently, Julia managed content strategy at a startup creating a social platform for licensed nurses, overseeing a team of nurse freelancers and editing interview transcripts and news articles for publication.

She holds a Bachelor's degree in communications from Simmons University, with a focus in journalism. Outside of work, Julia enjoys working on crafting projects, learning about homesteading, and singing in cover bands.

Chris Schafer
Edited byChris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
Chris Schafer
Chris SchaferDeputy Managing Editor, News and Marketing Content
  • 15+ years in content creation

  • 7+ years in business and financial services content

Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.

Featured in

media logomedia logomedia logomedia logo
MacKenzie Korris
Reviewed byMacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor
MacKenzie Korris
MacKenzie KorrisInsurance Copy Editor

MacKenzie Korris is an insurance copy editor with years of experience in print and digital media. He strives to craft actionable, inclusive copy that fosters smart decision-making through reader autonomy. He has a journalism degree from Saint Louis University.