Last month, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) revealed State Farm’s plans for a company-wide artificial intelligence (AI) overhaul. The news outlet reported Wednesday (July 8) on the public response to that effort, finding many people dissatisfied.
While many readers accepted AI’s entry into the insurance world as inevitable, and some hoped it would keep prices low, few were excited by the idea of more automation.
“Terrible,” “infuriating,” and “it sucks” were among the more common terms used by the roughly 900 readers who replied to the article, in reference to chatbots and other automated systems. Many said they would find a new insurer if their agent closed down due the changes.
The WSJ’s initial report included an anecdote about State Farm CEO Jon Farney’s address to the company’s 19,000 sales agents at a Las Vegas convention in May. During this speech, Farney told the agents their existing contracts were being replaced, with any agent staying past 2027 needing to sign a deal tied to revised sales targets and mandated daily AI use.
“The reason we’ve stuck with State Farm is the great service by the local agent,” said Joe Sonk of Moorestown, N.J. “I don’t have to spend 10 minutes shouting ‘representative’ into the phone.”
State Farm agents who replied to the article — and declined to be named for fear of being fired — worried about the chances that AI wouldn’t work well, considering the company’s history of tech innovations.
“State Farm is a great insurance company,” an agent in Alabama told the WSJ. “We are a horrible tech company.”
A spokesperson for State Farm told the WSJ that as a mutual company — owned by its policyholders — its tech investments are “based on what’s right for our customers over the long term, not simply how quickly we can bring new capabilities to market.”
The company continuously collects feedback from agents, employees and customers to hone its technological capabilities, the spokesperson added.
As covered here last month, State Farm’s push is in keeping a broader industry reset. PYMNTS reported that insurance quoting has shifted into the AI conversation layer, with customers now receiving price estimates without a broker or a separate website.
“Large insurers pulling back from AI liability risk has opened space for startups to step in,” that report added, “accelerating how coverage is priced, sold and distributed.”
