The AI Book

CHAPTER 47Building Trust through Sound Governance

By Patricia Shaw¹

¹CEO, Beyond Reach Consulting Limited

With 5.8 million individuals in the UK with either a thin or non-existent credit file¹ (approximately 1.3 million of whom are unbanked, accounting for 3% of UK adult population²) and the potential for using new data sources to boost financial inclusion by 1.52 million,³ financial service firms are increasingly seeking to use open banking and other new data sources for good. AI may be disruptive, but its impact for good is not inevitable. The financial services sector can act now: by increasing trust, transparency, ethics and by giving “consumers control over data to Big Tech”.⁴ This requires data mobility, digital identification, security and incorporating ethics by design in its governance.

Good outcomes can range from personalized financial budgeting, planning and robo-advice, to assisting consumers select suitable credit products and build a better credit report. For the banked, it is the early identification of signs of financial distress⁵ and signposting to consumer debt advice sooner.⁶

The “value exchange” enables the outcome (e.g. an unsecured loan with repayment terms tailored to preference) by using AI to offer speed and convenience (often free of charge), in return for data made available by the consumer.

We must worry. But not so much on the subject of who owns data, but as to how data is used, and what kind of control can be exercised on this use.

Luciano Floridi, ...