“The easy pile, as we call it, is gone,” Karen Cutler, chief underwriter for individual insurance at Manulife, said in an interview. For now, Maude will underwrite mass-market policies, such as younger lives for term coverage and smaller face amounts for universal life and participating whole life policies, Cutler said. Maude was trained like a human underwriter, Cutler added. RBC Insurance has used an AI-supported underwriting tool for term life policies up to $3 million for applicants under 55 since last year. BMO Insurance started using Microsoft Azure OpenAI in the field underwriting process for its life policies in November 2024.