Manulife has announced a four-year, $400,000 partnership with the Waterloo Artificial Intelligence Institute at the University of Waterloo.

The investment will support AI research in disability claim prediction, as well as fraud detection and natural language comprehension in customer service.

“Customer expectations are evolving and are increasingly driven by the power of technology,” said Cindy Forbes, executive vice president and chief analytics officer of Manulife. “This partnership with Canada’s top university in computer science and engineering is well matched with Manulife as we transform into a digital, customer-centric leader.”

In addition to funding research, the Manulife and University of Waterloo partnership will help build the next generation of intelligent systems through the Institute’s partnership program. It will also fund two AI prizes – for each year of the partnership – to undergraduate students who have excelled in either their studies, research or leadership in AI fields.

“AI is proving to be one of the most important technologies of our time and will have a significant impact on our economy and the lives of Canadians,” said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. “The University of Waterloo is committed to working with industry leaders like Manulife to ensure that we understand and benefit from the opportunities and impacts of this technology.”

This article originally appeared in Betakit