Episode 94: Academic Actuaries with Dr Fei Huang and Martin Mulcare
“
You can treat my classroom as a gym. Not a physical gym - a cognitive gym, where you build the judgement and cognitive muscles you need in an AI-enabled world.”
Dr Fei Huang
Associate Professor
This interview is part of the “Academic Actuaries” mini-series with guest host Martin Mulcare. You can also listen to the interview on the We Are Actuaries podcast episode number 94.
Martin Mulcare asks Dr Fei Huang to share reflections from her experience as an actuary in academia.
In this interview Fei:
Reframes the "AI will take entry-level jobs" narrative as a redefinition of what those jobs require, not their disappearance
Introduces the idea of "cognitive surrender" - the risk of losing judgement skills by over-relying on AI outputs
Describes her classroom as a "cognitive gym," built to keep students practising the muscles AI can't do for them
Explains her filter for choosing research questions: real industry pain point, genuine academic novelty, or it doesn't get her time
Reflects on translating public commentary (AFR, ABC, SBS) into better insurance literacy for everyday Australians
Dr Fei Huang is an Associate Professor of Risk and Actuarial Studies at UNSW Business School and a leading researcher in responsible AI for insurance and financial services. Her work brings together machine learning, statistics, economics, and actuarial science to develop AI systems that are fair, transparent, and trustworthy. She works closely with industry, government, and regulators to advance the responsible use of AI in insurance and has received numerous awards for her research, teaching, and professional leadership. For more information, visit www.feihuang.org.
Our guest host, Martin Mulcare, is a qualified actuary, experienced senior leader and a talented facilitator. He enjoys working with different types of people and he loves sharing ideas. Formerly the facilitator of the Professionalism Course, Martin is a member of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Ethics Centre and is the Chairman of the Board of The Growth Project.
Connect with Fei on LinkedIn.
Connect with Martin on LinkedIn.
Views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not represent the views of their places of work.
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