Leveraging a Large Language Model (LLM) for Financial Inclusion

Olubayo Adekanmbi of Data Science Nigeria in Nigeria will develop a multilingual, voice-based chatbot to demystify complex financial concepts and provide customized financial support to informal traders, women business owners, and smallholder farmers in Nigeria. These groups are often disadvantaged due to their low income and literacy and are historically underserved by conventional financial systems. They will create a chatbot capable of recording transactions from verbal inputs, such as "I bought four oranges at N50 naira," and answering financial questions. Customized financial guidance will be communicated back to the end user via voice note using text-to-speech. They will engage users in the design process and build large, locally-orientated financial datasets. They will then merge speech-to-text technology and GPT learning capabilities with an AI-driven financial management tool. The chatbot will be tested using their existing network of informal traders, and the feedback used for refinement and improvement.