Michael Abbott on AI in Employee Benefits – ‘You've got to go back to the origins of ERISA’
Foley & Lardner LLP partner Michael Abbott offered insight on the deployment of artificial intelligence in the employee benefits space in the Law360 article, “3 Atty Takeaways On How AI Affects Employee Benefits.”
Abbott said that large retirement plan service providers are all marketing “different types of tools” that employ AI, including for customer service and research reports for investment managers.
“Sure, you can use it as a tool to get that backward information,” he explained. “That doesn’t mean that it should be used primarily in terms of what the recommendation is going to be on a go-forward basis, but at least it gives you that historical perspective.”
Abbott noted that AI is “not a replacement for what that service provider is supposed to be actually doing,” highlighting that on the investment advisory side, “AI is not intended to act as a substitute for the investment adviser or investment manager’s advice related to selection of investment options.”
While Abbott said he has already seen references to AI in some 401(k) service provider contracts, he emphasized that ERISA fiduciaries need to incorporate these tools into an overall prudent and ERISA compliant management process.
“You’ve got to go back to the origins of ERISA…and analyze all of these AI aspects in that realm,” Abbott added.
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