Clients Are Asking AIs for Investment Ideas: Nationwide Tech Chief

Nationwide tells clients that it’s on their side. Now, it has generative artificial intelligence systems on its side.

The Columbus, Ohio-based insurer is already using AI models that can write to improve its own internal processes and help with drafting pet health content for its Pet Health Zone site.

Jim Fowler, the company’s chief technology officer, said last week in an email interview that the company is also thinking about how generative AI will fit into retirement planning — partly because consumers are forcing the issue.

“Consumers are starting to use generative AI models to do research on investments,” Fowler said. “They are using it to consolidate, compare and contrast different companies, and different investments from a few different sources or companies. They are using it to evaluate the pros and cons of particular investments.”

What it means: The most urgent distinction a few years from now may not be between fee-based and commission-based retirement professionals, but between protein-based advisors and electronic advisors.

The new AI: Fowler noted that Nationwide has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning for years.

What’s new is its use of generative AI, or AI systems that can convert users’ prompts into research-based answers that, in many cases, seem as if they were written by live humans.

The company has a “blue team” to look at the bright side of AI, and a “red team” to worry about the possible dark side, including risks such as fraud, copyright violations and unfair bias related to AI situation analysis.

Current uses: Today, Fowler said, Nationwide sees generative AI as a bionic co-worker able to help employees automate simple tasks.

The company has started by testing the use of generative AI in efforts to develop code and convert old code to new systems.