In the insurance industry, processing claims can be a drawn-out and maddening process. AI chatbots and conversational tools can improve the claims experience for both policyholders and adjusters. Not surprisingly, insurance companies have been at the forefront of chatbot adoption.

With AI, a chatbot can cross-reference claims, check for possible fraud, and process a payment within minutes. It also makes it easier to purchase insurance. For instance, someone pricing life insurance online can enter the relevant data—their birthday, whether they smoke or have a family history of health problems—and the AI system instantly evaluates risk and provides a quote, satisfying customers’ need for speed.

“For customers, knowing the ballpark of how much insurance is going to cost is going to help you think concretely about how much coverage you can afford,” says Laura McKiernan Boylan, head of underwriting solutions at Haven Technologies, a subsidiary of MassMutual.

Other industries also are successfully using AI-chatbots to streamline customer workflows. Banks are reducing case volumes and response times, while large telecom companies are cutting down on “status requests” by using conversational AI to let customers know about interruptions in service.

AI-powered conversational tools let customer-service representatives focus more on what they do best. “That customer service representative is able to do relationship-building,” says Nicole Chiala, senior manager at ServiceNow’s Workflow Design Studio. “That’s what people do really well, and machines can help us with the other pieces.”