New Studies Examine Ethical AI, Financial Inclusion
As lenders and insurers hand more decisions to automated systems, a hard question follows close behind: when an algorithm decides who gets a loan or a policy, who is accountable if it gets it wrong? A set of peer-reviewed studies published in 2024 takes that question head-on, and Angela Abhulimen, an independent researcher based in […]
As lenders and insurers hand more decisions to automated systems, a hard question follows close behind: when an algorithm decides who gets a loan or a policy, who is accountable if it gets it wrong? A set of peer-reviewed studies published in 2024 takes that question head-on, and Angela Abhulimen, an independent researcher based in the United Kingdom, is the corresponding author on several of them.
In “Discussing Ethical Considerations and Solutions for Ensuring Fairness in AI-Driven Financial Services,” published in the International Journal of Frontline Research in Multidisciplinary Studies, Abhulimen and her co-authors press financial institutions to move beyond compliance-focused governance toward frameworks that actively test for fairness and social impact, with particular attention to groups long excluded from formal finance. As corresponding author, she carried the central role in shaping and presenting that argument. “Fairness has to be built into these systems from the start,” she says, “not bolted on after the harm is done.”
A companion study on which she is also the corresponding author, “Utilizing AI-Driven Predictive Analytics to Reduce Credit Risk and Enhance Financial Inclusion,” makes a complementary case: that extending credit to underserved borrowers and protecting an institution from risk are not opposing goals when the modelling is built carefully. “Inclusion and prudence aren’t opposites,” Abhulimen says. “Done with care, the modelling delivers both.” A third paper in the same journal, on integrating financial literacy into national public education systems, again with Abhulimen as corresponding author, widens the lens from institutions to the public they serve, arguing that durable inclusion depends on people understanding the tools they are being offered.
Her concern with responsible technology extends to smaller businesses. As lead author of “Ethical Considerations in AI Use for SMEs and Supply Chains: Current Challenges and Future Directions,” published in the International Journal of Applied Research in Social Sciences, Abhulimen sets out the accountability gaps that smaller firms face as they adopt automated tools, a constituency that ethics debates tend to overlook in favour of large institutions.
She is also a co-author of “Global Perspectives on FinTech: Empowering SMEs and Women in Emerging Markets for Financial Inclusion,” which examines the specific mechanisms through which financial technology can reach small business owners, many of them women, and the conditions under which it fails to.
Across these papers, the question Abhulimen keeps returning to is not abstract. “When an algorithm decides who gets a loan, someone has to be accountable for the result,” she says. “That question can’t be left hanging.” Her contribution is to insist that fairness be designed into these systems from the outset, rather than discovered only once the damage is done.