Clearspeed, the global leader in voice-based risk assessment, today released new research examining the growing challenge for insurers to move faster with AI and automation while determining whether the information those systems act on can be trusted.
The Speed of Trust: Building the Trust Intelligence Layer for Insurance in the Age of Agentic AI, commissioned by Clearspeed and independently authored by insurance innovation strategist Sabine VanderLinden, CEO of Alchemy Crew Ventures, draws on a review of 76 public filings from 49 insurers and reinsurers, 31 industry studies, and 16 interviews with claims and underwriting leaders at insurance companies across the United States and United Kingdom.
The research identifies a paradox emerging as insurers rapidly adopt AI and automation: the industry is automating decisions, handoffs, evidence review, and customer interactions faster than it is building the infrastructure needed to clear those interactions confidently. Simultaneously, AI is making it faster and easier to create convincing false or manipulated photos, documents, voices, and identities that can enter insurance workflows.
Reserving Against A Risk Not Yet Named
“Industry research published in March 2026, based on a survey of 300 U.S. insurance claims professionals, found that 98% agree AI editing tools are driving a rise in digital media fraud, while just 32% say they are very confident they could identify a deepfake.”
“That is the verification gap: the distance between what the industry can see coming and what it can currently detect,” said VanderLinden. “Insurance is automating decisions faster than it can verify the information behind them.”
Alchemy Crew Ventures researchers searched 76 annual reports, 10-K filings, proxy statements, and statutory returns from 49 insurers and reinsurers for a dozen terms related to AI-generated and manipulated evidence, media, and imagery. The analysis found:
- Zero mentions of synthetic media, synthetic identity, or voice cloning across all 76 filings
- Just six of 49 companies mention deepfakes — and only as a cybersecurity concern, never in connection with evidence used in claims or underwriting decisions
- Five of the world’s top 10 reinsurers were analyzed; none mention deepfakes, synthetic media, or AI-generated evidence in their most recent annua