by Jemiel Benison, CAS Financial Health team.

This article was first published in The Herald on 7 February 2026.

AI is revolutionising many aspects of our lives. Whether its across sectors like design, legal and finance or charities like us, its potential is boundless.   

The investment costs and environmental challenge fuelling AI are huge. The positives are potentially world-changing, as are the negatives.  

The beast is awake and feeding. The question is, can we control it and ensure it is beneficial and inclusive to all? Or, do we repeat the mistakes of AI’s first incarnation - the digital revolution - and exclude vulnerable parts of our community?   

A key learning from the move to digital over the past 30 years is to avoid focusing solely on the design, and consider how people can actually access and use the technology. Those who were driving the technology of the internet era focused on what digitalisation could do, but with scant regard for the impact on consumers.   

If you want an example of this, look at the roll-out of Universal Credit (UC), a new social security payment which was designed to only be possible to claim online, unless you meet narrowly defined criteria.   

When UC was introduced its whole raison d’etre was that it should be the main social security option for the majority of people. However, 9% of Scottish households don’t have digital access and 15% lack digital skills. So when the option to use paper applications for UC disappeared overnight, this created devastating consequences for many vulnerable people, something we’re still grappling with today.   

The private sector is no different in terms of service design. We’ve all experienced the endless frustration of scripted customer journeys online that have no nuance and seemingly no logic.    

AI development offers the opportunity to overcome many interface issues, but only if the people who are going to be using the product are put at the forefront of designing and monitoring it, to ensure their requirements are met.   

The retail financial sector in particular should understand this need if it’s to fulfil its consumer duty obligations. The development of AI tools and products is moving at pace, but is the sector learning the lessons in terms of consumer involvement? For the moment, the jury is out. 

There are some beacons of hope in terms of ethical best practice. Most people I’ve encountered involved in AI development - particularly fintech - are ethically aware.  Groups like PHAWM (The Participatory Harm Auditing Workbenches and Methodologies project) for example, are committed to a participatory process of developing AI, making sure the end product is effective, legal and ethical. But this approach needs to be developed and adopted more widely.    

Technology continues to evolve, but in our own sector, our advisers continue to offer free, independent and impartial advice. We tell the facts as we know them, using insight from across our network of CABs to advocate for changes to broken markets. It’s true that we are on our own AI journey in terms of modernising our network. But as we navigate that we are 100% committed to prioritising the needs of those who use our service. That should be the baseline for all other agencies and companies too.