ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Artificial intelligence has a big role to play in extending financial services to the next billion customers. A wonky new report highlights financial service providers in Africa that are wielding AI to lower costs, boost revenues and gain a competitive edge with low-income populations. The report from FIBR, a partnership of BFA consulting and MasterCard Foundation, makes the case that automation, machine learning, statistics and programming can help providers "micro-segment" customers and suit services to their finances. Artificial intelligence algorithms are only as good as their data, notes the report from the consulting firm BFA. "More diverse individuals -- including women, for example, or individuals from under-represented groups -- may identify sources of bias inherent in the data and processes that might have been missed otherwise."

Jessica is a business and finance writer, focusing on impact investing, social entrepreneurship and economic development. She previously reported for financial publications covering the global private equity, real estate and insurance markets. AI's potential in healthcare is curbed by a maze of policy, regulation, and importantly, concerns for patient privacy. "The current healthcare delivery system unfortunately remains structurally ill-suited to absorb and deploy rapid advances," write researchers from the Stanford One Hundred Study on Artificial Intelligence. This week, ImpactAlpha is extracting nuggets from Stanford's century-long effort to understand AI's long-term possibilities and dangers.

Jessica is a business and finance writer, focusing on impact investing, social entrepreneurship and economic development. She previously reported for financial publications covering the global private equity, real estate and insurance markets. "Quality education will always require active engagement by human teacher," write researchers from the Stanford One Hundred Study on Artificial Intelligence. But artificial intelligence will inform the teaching processes of the future as pressure builds on educators to "contain costs while serving a larger number of students and moving students through school more quickly." This week, ImpactAlpha is extracting nuggets from Stanford's century-long effort to understand AI's long-term possibilities and dangers.